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. Combined, these schools handed out 4,650 master's degrees in international relations & national security to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
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 good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different 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 complete 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
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 earn $10,887 more than the standard international relations grad.
More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Johns Hopkins University
Harvard University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in international relations & national security. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Harvard University
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in international relations & national security needs to check out Georgetown University. Georgetown is a very 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 make $22,536 more than the average international relations student.
More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from Georgetown University
It is difficult to beat Duke University if you want 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
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 get an earnings boost of approximately $5,044 over the average income of international relations & national security graduates.
More information about a master’s in international relations & national security from George Washington University
