The top colleges for international relations study are Princeton (New Jersey), Harvard (Massachusetts), Yale (Connecticut), Georgetown and George Washington University (both in Washington, D.C.), University of Pennsylvania, Brown University (Rhode Island), Johns Hopkins University (Maryland), University of Southern California, U.S. Military Academy (New York), College of William and Mary (Virginia) and the University of Miami (Florida). These colleges often offer internships for international relations students in crucial positions such as within the United Nations and government agencies in Washington, D.C. There are other colleges at this level of admissions competition.
The next tier of competitive colleges for the study of international relations includes The College of New Jersey, Skidmore College (New York), American University (Washington, D.C.), Lafayette College (Pennsylvania), Occidental College (California), San Diego State University (CA), Muhlenberg College (Pennsylvania), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Boston University, and Middlebury College (Vermont). These are not the only colleges in this tier. Students can do searches on various college websites like CollegeBoard.com and CollegeConfidential.com (see Resources). Plus, it is important to go on the individual college's website to understand the major and curriculum differences at each school.
Less competitive colleges still with a strong international relations program include Adelphi University (New York), Connecticut College, Hawaii Pacific University, Hofstra University (New York), University of Massachusetts, Texas A&M University, University of San Diego, University of South Carolina and Florida International University. There are more colleges in this academic range also.
If a student has already completed an undergraduate degree, then the following colleges offer graduate programs: Georgetown, George Washington and American (all in Washington, D.C.), Tufts and Harvard (Massachusetts) , Princeton (New Jersey), Columbia (New York), University of Denver, University of Chicago and Stanford University (California). These are among the most competitive to enter. There are other lesser competitive graduate programs also.