If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in international studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #69 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual reviewed 87 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of international studies. Combined, these schools handed out 5,174 bachelor's degrees in international studies to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great International Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of international studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality international studies program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on international studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of international studies students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How much debt international studies students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized international studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for international studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best International Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
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Earn the degree that can help you drive business beyond borders with a specialized online international business degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study International Studies in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in international studies. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
17 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in International Studies
University of Notre Dame is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in international studies. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
Bachelor's recipients from the international studies program at University of Notre Dame earn $34,488 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
University of California - Santa Barbara is a great option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in international studies. UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the international studies program report average early career earnings of $33,553.
Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in international studies needs to look into University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those international studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive $9,572 more than the average international studies student.
Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the international studies degree program at University of California - Berkeley earn $11,786 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Those international studies students who get their bachelor's degree from Boston College receive $16,497 more than the average international studies grad.
UT Austin is a very large public university located in the large city of Austin.
Those international studies students who get their bachelor's degree from The University of Texas at Austin earn $7,827 more than the standard international studies graduate.
Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the international studies program at University of California - San Diego earn $10,294 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the midsize city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those international studies students who get their bachelor's degree from Arizona State University - Tempe earn $2,287 more than the standard international studies graduate.
American Military University is a very large private for-profit university located in the fringe town of Charles Town.
International Studies bachelor's degree recipients from American Public University System earn a boost of approximately $29,259 above the average income of international studies majors.
Texas A&M College Station is a very large public university located in the city of College Station.
Bachelor's recipients from the international studies program at Texas A&M University - College Station make $7,012 above the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Waltham.
International Studies bachelor's degree recipients from Brandeis University receive an earnings boost of around $2,000 over the typical income of international studies majors.
UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.
Those international studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Los Angeles earn $4,208 more than the average international studies graduate.
Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing.
International Studies bachelor's degree recipients from Michigan State University earn a boost of about $3,536 over the typical earnings of international studies graduates.
UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison.
Bachelor's recipients from the international studies program at University of Wisconsin - Madison earn $5,720 above the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
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Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best International Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).