2023 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for International Relations in California

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on International Relations Major in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 13,117 people earned their degree in international relations, making the major the 63rd most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 1,024 international relations graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 13 international relations graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,525 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on International Relations Major in California” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in international relations. That schools that top this list have a program in international relations in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The international relations 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 “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on International Relations Major in California”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on International Relations Major in California

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on International Relations Major in California”.

Top 2 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for International Relations in California

1

Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, California

Top 20% overall quality in California

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Claremont Graduate University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on International Relations Major in California list. Claremont, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s international relations degrees to 1 students in 2020-2021.

Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about International Relations at Claremont Graduate University

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California

#4 overall quality in California

Out of the 2 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on International Relations Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Southern California is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 12 doctorate’s international relations degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about International Relations at USC

• Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for International Relations in the Far Western US Region
• Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for International Relations

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to RepubFan12.