College Rankings

Best International Relations Schools

The top 25 of 107 U.S. colleges offering an undergraduate International Relations degree, ranked by early-career earnings and return on investment — using each school's real, aid-adjusted net price rather than sticker tuition.

Is International Relations worth it?

The financial math of an International Relations degree can be notoriously treacherous, but it absolutely pays off if you know how to play the board. This is a field famous for unpaid internships, expensive coastal cities, and entry-level government or NGO jobs that offer prestige instead of a living wage. If you borrow heavily to take a low-paying policy job in Washington, D.C., the return on investment will be brutal.

The schools that actually win in this data are split into two distinct camps. The first is elite, highly selective private institutions whose IR graduates bypass low-paying NGO work entirely, funneling directly into lucrative global management consulting, international finance, or tech. The second is a cluster of highly affordable public universities and military academies with heavily worn, direct pipelines into federal intelligence and defense contracting. If you can land in either of those tracks, the degree is a powerhouse.

Filter by state

#	School	State	Score	Median earnings	Net price / yr	10-yr net ROI
1	Stanford University	CA	75	$76,166	$13,807	+$706K
2	Middlebury College	VT	67	$68,344	$31,483	+$558K
3	Brigham Young University	UT	67	$50,563	$15,564	+$443K
4	University of Pennsylvania	PA	63	$65,559	$28,699	+$541K
5	Brown University	RI	63	$46,284	$25,184	+$362K
6	Johns Hopkins University	MD	62	$44,004	$18,809	+$365K
7	William & Mary	VA	61	$47,270	$19,096†	+$396K
8	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	61	$46,870	$21,565†	+$382K
9	Virginia Military Institute	VA	60	$44,429	$17,113†	+$376K
10	Lafayette College	PA	58	$58,433	$34,433	+$447K
11	University of North Georgia	GA	58	$43,564	$9,823†	+$396K
12	University of Southern California	CA	57	$52,262	$32,740	+$392K
13	Emory University	GA	57	$45,022	$22,585	+$360K
14	Northwestern University	IL	56	$58,326	$29,167	+$467K
15	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley	PA	56	$45,858	$18,220†	+$386K
16	Bucknell University	PA	55	$77,312	$40,766	+$610K
17	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus	PA	55	$45,858	$19,550†	+$380K
18	Norwich University	VT	55	$43,621	$22,257	+$347K
19	University of Georgia	GA	55	$39,275	$13,936†	+$337K
20	George Washington University	DC	54	$52,933	$36,586	+$383K
21	Boston University	MA	54	$45,870	$24,402	+$361K
22	George Mason University	VA	54	$44,644	$17,915†	+$375K
23	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	53	$44,638	$24,953†	+$347K
24	Michigan State University	MI	53	$38,810	$19,680†	+$309K
25	Tufts University	MA	52	$54,079	$39,998	+$381K
26	Angelo State University	TX	52	$53,246	$15,091†	+$472K
27	Georgetown University	DC	51	$50,588	$40,815	+$343K
28	James Madison University	VA	51	$44,667	$23,322†	+$353K
29	University of San Diego	CA	50	$50,948	$30,365	+$388K
30	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	50	$38,584	$17,339†	+$316K
31	University of California-Davis	CA	50	$34,949	$14,741†	+$291K
32	Towson University	MD	49	$39,208	$17,413†	+$322K
33	SUNY College at Geneseo	NY	49	$36,754	$18,211†	+$295K
34	San Diego State University	CA	49	$35,361	$15,364†	+$292K
35	Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	48	$36,100	$16,264†	+$296K
36	CUNY City College	NY	48	$30,627	$3,776†	+$291K
37	Fairfield University	CT	47	$49,239	$48,095	+$300K
38	American University	DC	46	$47,551	$41,943	+$308K
39	Fordham University	NY	46	$46,653	$44,338	+$289K
40	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	46	$45,858	$32,875†	+$327K
41	Liberty University	VA	46	$43,567	$29,357	+$318K
42	Florida State University	FL	46	$32,098	$11,297†	+$276K
43	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott	AZ	45	$46,868	$40,287	+$308K
44	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach	FL	45	$46,868	$41,272	+$304K
45	Seton Hall University	NJ	45	$45,440	$31,446	+$329K
46	California State University-Chico	CA	45	$39,060	$14,480†	+$333K
47	University of Iowa	IA	45	$36,376	$22,531†	+$274K
48	Florida International University	FL	45	$33,417	$9,288†	+$297K
49	University of Delaware	DE	44	$38,250	$17,799†	+$311K
50	Central Michigan University	MI	44	$35,802	$17,597†	+$288K
51	University of South Florida	FL	44	$30,977	$9,812†	+$271K
52	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	43	$47,956	$39,949	+$320K
53	The College of New Jersey	NJ	43	$34,841	$27,646†	+$238K
54	Kennesaw State University	GA	43	$34,343	$15,048†	+$283K
55	Wofford College	SC	42	$43,428	$18,732	+$359K
56	Syracuse University	NY	42	$43,249	$38,793	+$277K
57	Duquesne University	PA	42	$39,630	$37,730	+$245K
58	Lehigh University	PA	42	$36,147	$36,931	+$214K
59	Fairmont State University	WV	42	$35,925	$9,032†	+$323K
60	Occidental College	CA	42	$35,231	$38,263	+$199K
61	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	NH	42	$34,036	$23,805†	+$245K
62	San Francisco State University	CA	42	$31,254	$12,278†	+$263K
63	Hamilton College	NY	40	$45,332	$28,985	+$337K
64	Cal Poly Maritime Academy	CA	40	$42,924	$20,555†	+$347K
65	Miami University-Oxford	OH	40	$38,766	$28,384†	+$274K
66	Indiana University-Indianapolis	IN	40	$36,889	$11,668†	+$322K
67	University of Idaho	ID	40	$30,261	$14,831†	+$243K
68	Connecticut College	CT	39	$45,543	$36,175	+$311K
69	The University of Alabama	AL	39	$35,324	$22,420†	+$264K
70	Northern Arizona University	AZ	39	$29,924	$14,158†	+$243K
71	Marquette University	WI	38	$43,290	$31,487	+$307K
72	University of Denver	CO	38	$40,923	$36,131	+$265K
73	Wheaton College	IL	37	$40,084	$26,975	+$293K
74	University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh	WI	37	$36,726	$14,305†	+$310K
75	University of California-Riverside	CA	37	$27,021	$14,304†	+$213K
76	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	36	$40,648	$31,563	+$280K
77	Vassar College	NY	36	$31,956	$39,343	+$162K
78	University of Miami	FL	36	$31,813	$37,244	+$169K
79	Mount Holyoke College	MA	36	$26,306	$26,441	+$157K
80	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	35	$33,612	$22,811†	+$245K
81	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	35	$29,539	$15,927†	+$232K
82	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	35	$28,596	$16,778†	+$219K
83	Old Dominion University	VA	34	$33,581	$14,638†	+$277K
84	University of Mary Washington	VA	34	$30,357	$20,667†	+$221K
85	DePaul University	IL	33	$35,792	$30,902	+$234K
86	University of Maine	ME	33	$35,337	$17,510†	+$283K
87	Baylor University	TX	32	$37,507	$41,104	+$211K
88	Portland State University	OR	32	$30,253	$9,552†	+$264K
89	University of Arkansas	AR	32	$22,612	$18,209†	+$153K
90	Cleveland State University	OH	30	$31,434	$14,764†	+$255K
91	University of San Francisco	CA	29	$36,669	$41,431	+$201K
92	Loyola Marymount University	CA	29	$34,575	$48,381	+$152K
93	Rollins College	FL	29	$28,113	$34,732	+$142K
94	Rhodes College	TN	29	$23,835	$28,585	+$124K
95	Loyola University Chicago	IL	28	$32,682	$36,079	+$183K
96	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	OH	28	$32,543	$25,648†	+$223K
97	SUNY Oneonta	NY	28	$31,455	$19,158†	+$238K
98	University of Puget Sound	WA	28	$28,176	$38,394	+$128K
99	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	27	$25,879	$10,836†	+$215K
100	Northern Kentucky University	KY	27	$21,915	$8,191†	+$186K
101	Georgia Southern University	GA	26	$27,664	$15,267†	+$216K
102	Grand Valley State University	MI	24	$28,202	$16,317†	+$217K
103	State University of New York at Oswego	NY	23	$24,893	$16,236†	+$184K
104	Eckerd College	FL	22	$26,526	$38,071	+$113K
105	Goucher College	MD	22	$25,868	$22,470	+$169K
106	Allegheny College	PA	22	$24,303	$22,940	+$151K
107	Texas State University	TX	21	$20,547	$16,805†	+$138K

Top 10 programs by 10-year net ROI

How to read this: Median earnings = typical pay one year after graduation. Net price = average annual cost after grant aid, incl. living costs — not sticker tuition. 10-yr net ROI = ten years of earnings minus four years of net price. Score = the CollegeRanked Score (0–100) that sets the order — it blends ROI with longer-run earnings, job demand and automation resilience, so a school can outrank one with a slightly higher 10-yr ROI. † = public university — net price shown is the in-state cost; out-of-state students pay more. See the full methodology.

Why these schools rank where they do

Stanford University takes the #1 spot because its graduates aren't just looking toward Washington—they are being scooped up by Silicon Valley. Modern tech giants need armies of trust and safety officers, policy advisors, and geopolitical risk analysts to navigate global regulations and international markets. Stanford's proximity to these companies, combined with the heavyweight networking power of its Hoover Institution and Freeman Spogli Institute, means its IR grads are landing private-sector tech salaries that dwarf standard government pay.

But the most fascinating story on this list is Brigham Young University sitting at #3, beating out Ivy League powerhouses like Penn and Brown. BYU's secret weapon is its student body: thanks to the global missionary program of the LDS Church, a massive percentage of BYU students are highly fluent in critical foreign languages and possess significant overseas experience before they even graduate. This makes the university an absolute magnet for recruiters from the CIA, the State Department, and multinational corporations, offering elite placement outcomes at a fraction of private-school tuition.

You will also notice a surprisingly strong showing from Senior Military Colleges, with Virginia Military Institute, the University of North Georgia, and Norwich University all landing in the top 20. These schools offer a highly disciplined, heavily subsidized route straight into the Pentagon, the intelligence community, and the booming defense contracting industry in nearby Northern Virginia. Meanwhile, famous D.C. policy schools are notably absent or ranked lower than expected (like George Washington University at #20). While D.C. schools offer unparalleled access to Capitol Hill internships, their astronomical tuition combined with the notoriously low starting salaries of entry-level political and NGO work severely drags down their early-career value.

What is International Relations?

International Relations is the study of how nations, non-governmental organizations, and multinational corporations interact on the global stage. Graduates don't just become diplomats; they work as political risk analysts, intelligence officers, global supply chain managers, and international development consultants, translating complex geopolitical shifts into actionable strategy for both the public and private sectors.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be fluent in a foreign language?

Practically speaking, yes. While some universities might let you graduate with only a few semesters of a language, the employers who pay well—whether the State Department, federal intelligence agencies, or global consulting firms—expect professional working proficiency. Schools like Middlebury College rank highly (#2) precisely because their legendary language programs make their graduates instantly deployable on the global stage.

Why aren't famous D.C. schools dominating the top of the list?

Location is a double-edged sword. Being in Washington, D.C. is fantastic for networking and securing internships at think tanks or on Capitol Hill. However, those entry-level roles are highly competitive and pay very little. When you combine high private tuition with a starting salary at a non-profit or in a junior legislative role, the financial return takes a massive hit compared to graduates who enter corporate risk analysis or defense contracting.

Should I double major?

Absolutely. International Relations is a fantastic lens for understanding the world, but it can be too theoretical on its own. Pairing IR with economics, data science, cyber security, or a critical foreign language makes you infinitely more employable. Adding hard quantitative skills helps you pass the resume screen for high-paying global finance and intelligence roles, proving you can not only understand the geopolitical landscape but actually model its financial impact.