The 50 colleges that score highest for International relations on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
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| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Chicago | IL | Median earnings $149,058 (field-wide) · 37 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Stanford University | CA | Median earnings $91,075 · 62 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | Johns Hopkins University | MD | Median earnings $99,205 · 63 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | Yale University | CT | Median earnings $121,975 (field-wide) · 76 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | New York University | NY | Median earnings $100,856 (field-wide) · 109 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | Median earnings $87,439 · 23 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | Brown University | RI | Median earnings $86,780 · 178 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | Median earnings $144,886 (field-wide) · 20 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | Claremont McKenna College | CA | Median earnings $96,520 · 30 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | Tufts University | MA | Median earnings $77,998 · 130 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | Northwestern University | IL | Median earnings $74,477 · 37 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | Georgetown University | DC | Median earnings $82,197 · 289 graduates last year · 13% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | Northeastern University | MA | Median earnings $74,816 · 47 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | Emory University | GA | Median earnings $78,029 · 27 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | Middlebury College | VT | Median earnings $92,728 · 45 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | University of Southern California | CA | Median earnings $84,866 · 139 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | Wellesley College | MA | Median earnings $106,442 (field-wide) · 19 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | Boston University | MA | Median earnings $66,661 · 156 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Median earnings $82,991 · 138 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | Colgate University | NY | Median earnings $77,199 · 47 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | Carleton College | MN | Median earnings $86,244 (field-wide) · 39 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | Median earnings $79,264 · 20 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Tulane University of Louisiana | LA | Median earnings $77,300 · 53 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | Hamilton College | NY | Median earnings $64,585 · 15 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | George Washington University | DC | Median earnings $76,751 · 410 graduates last year · 15% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | William & Mary | VA | Median earnings $91,065 · 78 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | University of Miami | FL | Median earnings $84,474 · 38 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | Denison University | OH | Median earnings $88,648 (field-wide) · 10 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | Lafayette College | PA | Median earnings $103,504 (field-wide) · 29 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | University of Georgia | GA | Median earnings $70,510 · 211 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | Lehigh University | PA | Median earnings $79,569 · 18 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | Vassar College | NY | Median earnings $63,591 · 24 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | Bucknell University | PA | Median earnings $90,393 · 32 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | United States Military Academy | NY | Earnings not published · 59 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | University of Rochester | NY | Median earnings $67,531 · 17 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | Florida State University | FL | Median earnings $63,984 · 266 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | Fordham University | NY | Median earnings $77,234 · 86 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | Skidmore College | NY | Median earnings $69,091 (field-wide) · 14 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | American University | DC | Median earnings $73,865 · 391 graduates last year · 20% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | Occidental College | CA | Median earnings $70,394 · 28 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | Syracuse University | NY | Median earnings $68,049 · 85 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | University of California-Davis | CA | Median earnings $67,056 · 108 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | United States Air Force Academy | CO | Earnings not published · 46 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | San Diego State University | CA | Median earnings $59,733 · 34 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | Fairfield University | CT | Median earnings $94,347 · 10 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | Median earnings $71,988 · 116 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | Loyola Marymount University | CA | Median earnings $77,595 (field-wide) · 40 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $66,064 · 123 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | Dickinson College | PA | Median earnings $62,570 · 21 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $71,001 · 97 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees |
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