If you plan on majoring in international studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #100 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual reviewed 128 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of international studies. Combined, these schools handed out 7,368 degrees in international studies to qualified students.
Your choice of international studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for international studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
The international studies school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best International Studies Schools.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
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Best Schools for International Studies in the United States
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the international studies degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in international studies. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were roughly 117 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available. Those international studies students who get their degree from University of Pennsylvania receive $128,330 more than the typical international studies student.
It's hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a degree in international studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were about 135 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.
University of Notre Dame is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in international studies. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were roughly 61 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year.
Any student who is interested in international studies has to look into University of Southern California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were about 23 international studies students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.
WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis. A Best Colleges rank of #17 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.
There were roughly 64 international studies students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent data year. Those international studies students who get their degree from Washington University in St Louis make $2,705 more than the standard international studies student.
Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.
There were approximately 585 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the international studies program at University of California - San Diego get $7,344 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
UCSB is a very large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara. This university ranks 10th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 293 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the international studies program state that they receive average early career income of $35,213.
Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were approximately 209 international studies students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the international studies program earn about $33,806 in their early career salary.
UT Austin is a very large public university located in the city of Austin. A Best Colleges rank of #36 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UT Austin is a great university overall.
There were about 198 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the international studies program report average early career wages of $35,418.
UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were roughly 42 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. International Studies degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles receive an earnings boost of approximately $9,031 over the typical earnings of international studies graduates.
Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 15th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 172 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. After graduation, international studies degree recipients generally earn an average of $32,752 in the first five years of their career.
Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Waltham. This university ranks 14th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were about 67 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Brandeis in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the international studies major at Brandeis University get $6,186 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Colby is a small private not-for-profit college located in the town of Waterville. This college ranks 2nd out of 19 schools for overall quality in the state of Maine.
There were roughly 29 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Colby in the most recent data year. International Studies degree recipients from Colby College receive an earnings boost of about $10,152 above the typical income of international studies graduates.
UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were approximately 95 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the international studies program earn about $28,989 for their early career.
UF is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville. This university ranks 1st out of 77 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were roughly 90 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the international studies program earn around $26,055 for their early career.
Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population. This college ranks 8th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were about 86 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the international studies major at Boston College get $5,438 more than the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.
There were approximately 8 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent data year.
University of Oklahoma is a very large public university located in the suburb of Norman. This university ranks 1st out of 32 colleges for overall quality in the state of Oklahoma.
There were approximately 201 international studies students who graduated with this degree at University of Oklahoma in the most recent data year. Those international studies students who get their degree from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus receive $12,314 more than the average international studies grad.
Located in the city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 26 colleges for overall quality in the state of Arizona.
There were roughly 165 international studies students who graduated with this degree at ASU - Tempe in the most recent data year. Those international studies students who get their degree from Arizona State University - Tempe earn $2,036 more than the standard international studies grad.
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 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).