Best Colleges for International Relations/Studies

International Relations is where economics, global politics, and cultural studies collide producing versatile graduates ready to enter the Foreign Service, the intelligence community, or the world of international business. It’s little surprise that many of the schools that made our list of the Best Colleges for International Relations and Studies are located in metropolitan hubs like Washington D.C., but there are also premiere opportunities for study in locales like Kentucky (Centre College) and Minnesota (Carleton College). These schools are known for having professors who are leading scholars and high ranking government officials, extensive and meaningful study abroad programs, and direct pipelines into desirable government agencies.

Click the links below for more information about each college’s international relations program. Click here to read our methodology. Finally, note that although some of the colleges featured below do not offer a formal major in international relations or international studies, their undergraduate offerings in these subject areas are so strong that they warrant inclusion on our list.

American University

Boston College

Boston University

Brandeis University

Brown University

Carleton College

Claremont McKenna College

Clark University

Colby College

Colgate University

College of William and Mary

Columbia University

Connecticut College

Cornell University

Dartmouth College

Dickinson College

Emory University

Fordham University

George Mason University

George Washington University

Georgetown University

Hamilton College

Harvard University

Johns Hopkins University

Kenyon College

Lehigh University

Macalester College

Middlebury College

Mount Holyoke College

New York University

Occidental College

Pomona College

Princeton University

Rhodes College

Stanford University

Swarthmore College

Tufts University

Tulane University

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, San Diego

University of California, Santa Barbara

University of Chicago

University of Denver

University of Georgia

University of Michigan

University of Pennsylvania

University of Richmond

University of Southern California

University of Virginia

Williams College

Yale University