Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 16:03     Subject: Re:Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seems like Econ light


it's not


+1 international relations coursework is usually in the politics department. Maybe there would be an international political economy course that IR students are required to take but that’s about it.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:59     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:I concur, Tufts had been a conspicuous omission, particularly from the short list of universities that was posted early in the topic.

Liberal arts colleges also can make excellent choices for IR. The OP may benefit from looking into Claremont McKenna, Middlebury, Hamilton, Colby, Connecticut College, Macalester and Richmond, to name a few.


My kid with this interest (also Econ) is headed to Middlebury. Midd has an International Policies & Economics major.
https://www.middlebury.edu/college/academics/international-politics-economics
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:56     Subject: Re:Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:Seems like Econ light


it's not
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:55     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Your experience with IR? Or your kid's? What college? What did you/they study within IR? Did you/they do a masters, Masters plus? Job?


Almost every college has this major. But it's really hard to get a job now that Trump has been cutting state dept and USAID and foreign service internships, jobs, even the foreign service exam. Go outside the US like Canada, UK or Europe.


Not really. There is a lot of variation in how colleges handle IR majors. They fall in three buckets:

1) a true IR standalone major
2) "international affairs" major - depending on the school this can be very similar to IR or quite different. Check the major requirements carefully.
3) IR track as part of poli sci major. If you want this, check how many IR courses are offered and how many profs have this specialty

We found that nearly every school has #3, many schools have #2, not too many have #1

My kid is interested in IR so we spent a lot of time looking at this.


15:15 again. just adding the caveat that sometimes bucket #2 is called something else like global studies or international studies
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:53     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA has Foreign Affairs, not International Relations, but close.


Yes, UVA does have International
relations and it is ranked 16 by Niche. https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-colleges-for-international-relations/


Not according to UVA's website, which you should trust over a third party site like niche.
https://www.virginia.edu/majors-minors/
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:51     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Your experience with IR? Or your kid's? What college? What did you/they study within IR? Did you/they do a masters, Masters plus? Job?


Almost every college has this major. But it's really hard to get a job now that Trump has been cutting state dept and USAID and foreign service internships, jobs, even the foreign service exam. Go outside the US like Canada, UK or Europe.


Not really. There is a lot of variation in how colleges handle IR majors. They fall in three buckets:

1) a true IR standalone major
2) "international affairs" major - depending on the school this can be very similar to IR or quite different. Check the major requirements carefully.
3) IR track as part of poli sci major. If you want this, check how many IR courses are offered and how many profs have this specialty

We found that nearly every school has #3, many schools have #2, not too many have #1

My kid is interested in IR so we spent a lot of time looking at this.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:22     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:UVA has Foreign Affairs, not International Relations, but close.


Yes, UVA does have International
relations and it is ranked 16 by Niche. https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-colleges-for-international-relations/
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:18     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA has Foreign Affairs, not International Relations, but close.


There are always debates about international studies, affairs, & relations. The fact is that there are no strict differences among these terms. Each college has its own idea of what it is going to focus on. So don’t get hung up on the name of the department.


UVA has both foreign affairs and international Relations. Also masters and doctoral programs. https://politics.virginia.edu/international-relations
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:14     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
A major difference among these departments is whether the international focus is just part of the poli-sci department, has its own department in the liberal arts college, or if it has its own “school.”
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:10     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:UVA has Foreign Affairs, not International Relations, but close.


There are always debates about international studies, affairs, & relations. The fact is that there are no strict differences among these terms. Each college has its own idea of what it is going to focus on. So don’t get hung up on the name of the department.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 14:49     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
^* "top"
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 14:49     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:I concur, Tufts had been a conspicuous omission, particularly from the short list of universities that was posted early in the topic.

Liberal arts colleges also can make excellent choices for IR. The OP may benefit from looking into Claremont McKenna, Middlebury, Hamilton, Colby, Connecticut College, Macalester and Richmond, to name a few.


Don't think too much into why certain schools were left off. Looks like listing from some list of "too" ranked or something. Many colleges were not named such as the names in above post.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 13:57     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Another St Andrews IR grad here. Kennedy for masters and then consulting in a geo political group in switzeerlan helping companies with their international risk/exposure.

There are a lot more options for IR grads than just working for the Gov….just have to find your niche….
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 13:45     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
I concur, Tufts had been a conspicuous omission, particularly from the short list of universities that was posted early in the topic.

Liberal arts colleges also can make excellent choices for IR. The OP may benefit from looking into Claremont McKenna, Middlebury, Hamilton, Colby, Connecticut College, Macalester and Richmond, to name a few.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 13:42     Subject: Colleges with an International Relations major
Anonymous wrote:U Penn has IR. Our college tour guide was an IR major early on in the school year and told us she had a job offer already with Morgan Stanley.


Correction: ..was an IR major and told us she had a job offer already with Morgan Stanley. The tour was early on in the school year.