2025 Best International Relations & National Security Schools in District of Columbia
3Colleges in District of Columbia
2,205International Relations Degrees Awarded
$47,717Avg Early-Career Salary
International Relations & National Security is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #67 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in District of Columbia to determine which ones were the best for international relations & national security students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,205 degrees in international relations & national security annually.
Choosing a Great International Relations & National Security School
The international relations program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for International Relations & National Security rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for international relations & national security schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
International Relations & National Security Rankings by Degree Level
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 the Best International Relations & National Security Schools in District of Columbia.
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.
Best Schools for International Relations & National Security in District of Columbia
The schools below may not offer all types of international relations degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Top District of Columbia Schools in International Relations
Georgetown University is a great decision for students interested in a degree in international relations & national security. Located in the large city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Georgetown is a great university overall.
There were about 562 international relations & national security students who graduated with this degree at Georgetown in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the international relations & national security degree program at Georgetown University make $26,586 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
George Washington University is a wonderful choice for students interested in a degree in international relations & national security. GWU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. This university ranks 2nd out of 7 schools for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.
There were roughly 852 international relations & national security students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent year we have data available. International Relations & National Security degree recipients from George Washington University get an earnings boost of around $13,739 above the average earnings of international relations & national security majors.
It's difficult to beat American University if you wish to pursue a degree in international relations & national security. The American University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. This university ranks 3rd out of 7 colleges for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.
There were approximately 749 international relations & national security students who graduated with this degree at The American University in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the international relations & national security major at American University earn $9,768 more than the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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.
The international relations program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for International Relations & National Security rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for international relations & national security schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
