In their first published ratings since 2018, Foreign Policy magazine once again lists the School of International Service (SIS) in the top tier of international relations programs around the world at the undergraduate, masters, and PhD levels as evaluated by faculty at international relations schools.  

The SIS masters and undergraduate programs both rank in the top 10, with our undergraduate program ranking eighth, up one spot from previous rankings, and our master’s program also placing eighth.  

For the first time, Foreign Policy has added two additional sets of rankings—one by policymakers and another from think tank staff—in each category. SIS’s undergraduate program also ranks 10th among policymakers and places 11th among think tank staff. SIS’s master’s program ranks 10th among policymakers and 12th among think tank staff.  

“We’re proud of this recognition,” said SIS dean Shannon Hader, MD, MPH. “It speaks to our success in educating global leaders who will engage with some of the biggest challenges and biggest opportunities of our times. At SIS, we do global differently—preparing students to understand the world from multiple vantage points, building their real-world skills in navigating an ever-more complex world, and fostering expertise at the intersection of major issues that impact humanity.”  

Foreign Policy also expanded their rankings of PhD programs to rank programs in two categories, PhD programs for academics and PhD programs for policymakers. In the “PhD Programs for Policymakers” category, SIS’s PhD program in international relations ranked 11th among international relations faculty, 12th among policymakers, and 13th among think tank staff. In the “PhD Programs for Academics” category, SIS’s PhD program in international relations ranked 21st among international relations faculty, 16th among policymakers, and 20th among think tank staff.  

SIS was born from former US President Dwight Eisenhower’s founding call to service in 1957—10 years into the Cold War—as an interdisciplinary school of international affairs. And as the world has changed, we’ve changed with it. Our scholars search for solutions at the intersections of big ideas: cybertechnology and threats to democracy; climate change and migration; economic development and security; health and human rights; power and peace. Our programs are highly flexible across a broad spectrum of specializations and concentrations. Along with rigorous training in the classroom, we provide fieldwork experiences for hands-on skills training and problem-solving in Washington, DC, and abroad. 

With more than 25,000 SIS alumni worldwide, our graduates go on to successful careers of impact in government, nonprofits, and the private sector. More than 91 percent of BA graduates and 91 percent of MA graduates were employed or pursuing an advanced degree within six months of graduation. American University is the top producer of Peace Corps volunteers among medium-sized colleges for 2023, and AU’s Model UN team has been first in North America for three years in a row. American University ranks sixth in the nation for 2024 Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) finalists with 21. AU and SIS also excel in fellowship programs that broaden the population of global leaders, with 13 Charles B. Rangel, Thomas R. Pickering, and Donald M. Payne Fellows attending SIS in fall 2024. AU is currently third in the US for Boren Fellows, and in 2021, AU was first in the number of the Peace Corps’ Paul D. Coverdell fellows. 

“The SIS network of faculty, students, and alumni is both broad and deep, rooted in DC and stretching around the world,” said SIS professor and senior associate dean for faculty affairs Rachel Sullivan Robinson. “Our students come to SIS to learn how to make a positive difference in the world, and they leave prepared to do so." 

SIS master’s programs—both on campus and online—are still accepting applications. For undergraduates, recruitment for the 2025 entering class and transfer students are underway. 

Foreign Policy typically releases rankings every three to four years. This year's rankings come at a time of international uncertainty, with a critical US election cycle underway and with countries around the world grappling with democracy and democratic backsliding, populism, mis- and dis-information, and civic engagement. The rankings come at a time of ongoing wars and conflict and recurrent humanitarian crises and climate events. They come at a time when the need to train agile, service-minded global leaders is greater than ever. 

According to Foreign Policy, the rankings are derived as part of a longtime partnership with the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) Project at William & Mary’s Global Research Institute. Their process is to ask IR professionals what they think are the five best places to study for an undergraduate, terminal master’s, and doctoral degree.In the most recent survey on the topic, conducted from October 2022 to January 2023, they received responses from 979 IR scholars across the United States, 294 staff affiliated with US think tanks, and 291 policymakers who worked in the US government during the George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations.