2025 Best International Relations & National Security Master's Degree Schools

a master's degree in international relations & national security is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #43 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 62 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best International Relations & National Security Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,262 master's degrees in international relations & national security during the <nil> academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great International Relations & National Security School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of international relations & national security for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master'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 include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree 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 Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to international relations & national security students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other international relations & national security students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• 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 easy is it for international relations & national security to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized international relations & national security related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for international relations & national security students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best International Relations & National Security Master's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study International Relations & National Security in the United States

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for international relations & national security students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

12 Top Schools for a Master's in International Relations

1

Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

749 Annual Graduates

$76,550 Median Starting Salary

Johns Hopkins University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in international relations & national security. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those international relations & national security students who get their master's degree from Johns Hopkins University make $10,887 more than the standard international relations grad.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Johns Hopkins University

2

Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

100 Annual Graduates

Harvard University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in international relations & national security. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Harvard University

3

Georgetown University
Washington, DC

349 Annual Graduates

$88,199 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in international relations & national security needs to look into Georgetown University. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.

Those international relations & national security students who get their master's degree from Georgetown University earn $22,536 more than the typical international relations graduate.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Georgetown University

4

Duke University
Durham, NC

40 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Duke University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in international relations & national security. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Duke University

5

George Washington University
Washington, DC

358 Annual Graduates

$70,707 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

International Relations & National Security master's degree recipients from George Washington University earn a boost of around $5,044 above the typical income of international relations & national security majors.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from George Washington University

6

American University
Washington, DC

486 Annual Graduates

$69,872 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those international relations & national security students who get their master's degree from American University make $4,209 more than the average international relations student.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from American University

7

Stanford University
Stanford, CA

22 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Stanford University

8

Tufts University
Medford, MA

233 Annual Graduates

$73,332 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those international relations & national security students who get their master's degree from Tufts University receive $7,669 more than the standard international relations graduate.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Tufts University

9

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

75 Annual Graduates

$66,182 Median Starting Salary

UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Soon after graduating, international relations master's recipients generally make an average of $66,182 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from University of Chicago

10

Yale University
New Haven, CT

43 Annual Graduates

Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven.More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Yale University

11

Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY

245 Annual Graduates

$80,448 Median Starting Salary

Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.

Master's recipients from the international relations & national security program at Columbia University in the City of New York make $14,785 more than the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Columbia University in the City of New York

12

New York University
New York, NY

187 Annual Graduates

$59,814 Median Starting Salary

NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.

Master's students who receive their degree from the international relations program earn around $59,814 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from New York University

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 Relations & National Security Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank	College	Location
13	George Mason University	Fairfax, VA
14	Boston University	Boston, MA
15	University of California - San Diego	La Jolla, CA
16	Fordham University	Bronx, NY
17	Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY
18	University of Denver	Denver, CO
19	University of Georgia	Athens, GA
20	Rice University	Houston, TX

International Relations & National Security by Region

View the Best International Relations & National Security Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Rankings in Majors Related to International Relations

One of 13 majors within the Social Sciences area of study, International Relations & National Security has other similar majors worth exploring.

International Relations Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
International Relations	4,455
International Security	432
Other International Relations & National Security Studies	375

Majors Similar to International Relations

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Economics	5,317
Political Science & Government	2,000
General Social Sciences	1,618
Sociology	1,358
Geography & Cartography	1,193
Anthropology	1,028
Urban Studies	327
Other Social Sciences	315
Archeology	52
Demography & Population Studies	46

Notes and References

• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to RepubFan12. More about our data sources and methodologies.