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 91 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of international studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 6,614 degrees in international studies annually.
Earn the degree that can help you drive business beyond borders with a specialized online international business degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
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.
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 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 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the United States 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 #2 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were approximately 105 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the international studies degree program at University of Pennsylvania get $165,027 more than the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
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 large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were approximately 68 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the international studies major at University of Notre Dame get $29,462 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
BS in Business Administration - International BusinessProgram Name
Earn the degree that can help you drive business beyond borders with a specialized online international business degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
University of California - Santa Barbara is a good option for students interested in a degree in international studies. UCSB is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara. This university ranks 7th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 192 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the international studies program report average early career wages of $33,553.
Every student pursuing a degree in international studies needs to check out 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. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were about 152 international studies students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. International Studies degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earn a boost of about $4,546 above the typical income of international studies majors.
Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 12th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 149 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, international studies degree recipients generally earn an average of $33,388 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were roughly 122 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. International Studies degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley earn a boost of around $6,760 over the average earnings of international studies majors.
Located in the city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #17 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Boston College is a great college overall.
There were roughly 83 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent data year. Those international studies students who get their degree from Boston College make $11,471 more than the standard international studies graduate.
UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin. A Best Colleges rank of #46 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UT Austin is a great university overall.
There were roughly 193 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the international studies major at The University of Texas at Austin make $2,801 above the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 537 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year. Those international studies students who get their degree from University of California - San Diego receive $5,268 more than the typical international studies student.
Located in the medium-sized city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 26 schools for overall quality in the state of Arizona.
There were about 154 international studies students who graduated with this degree at ASU - Tempe in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, international studies degree recipients usually earn about $37,515 in the first five years of their career.
Texas A&M College Station is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of College Station. A Best Colleges rank of #42 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Texas A&M College Station is a great university overall.
There were about 143 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Texas A&M College Station in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the international studies program earn around $41,886 in the first couple years of working.
Brandeis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Waltham. This university ranks 15th out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were about 50 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Brandeis in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the international studies program earn an average of $36,874 in their early career salary.
UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were about 41 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. After graduating, international studies degree recipients typically make an average of $39,082 at the beginning of their careers.
Michigan State is a very large public university located in the city of East Lansing. This university ranks 2nd out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were roughly 56 international studies students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the international studies program state that they receive average early career wages of $38,410.
UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 98 international studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the international studies program earn around $40,594 in the first couple years of working.
American Military University is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the town of Charles Town. This university ranks 1st out of 25 schools for overall quality in the state of West Virginia.
There were roughly 245 international studies students who graduated with this degree at American Military University in the most recent year we have data available. International Studies degree recipients from American Public University System receive an earnings boost of approximately $36,126 over the typical earnings of international studies majors.
University of Oklahoma is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Norman. This university ranks 1st out of 31 colleges for overall quality in the state of Oklahoma.
There were about 166 international studies students who graduated with this degree at University of Oklahoma in the most recent data year. International Studies degree recipients from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus get an earnings boost of around $20,890 over the typical income of international studies graduates.
Rest of the Top Best International Studies Schools
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 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).
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.
