The Top 10 International Relations Ph.D. Rankings

Schools for the next generation of global intellectual heavyweights.

By Kedar Pavgi

January 3, 2012, 3:05 AM

These rankings are part of the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) survey, conducted by Paul C. Avey, Michael C. Desch, James D. Long, Daniel Maliniak, Susan Peterson, and Michael J. Tierney. All additional information provided was added by Foreign Policy and is not part of the survey results.

1. Harvard University
Admitted class size: 14-26
Average time to graduate: 5-6 years
Funding: All admitted students considered for fellowships, amounting to full/partial tuition and stipends
Star professors: Robert Bates, Jeffry Frieden, Stephen M. Walt
Website: http://www.gov.harvard.edu/graduate-program

2. Princeton University

Admitted class size: 40
Average time to graduate: 5 years, minimum
Funding: Full tuition funding for four years, including living stipends
Star professors: Robert Keohane, Uwe Reindhart, Anne-Marie Slaughter,
Website: http://wws.princeton.edu/

3. Stanford University

Admitted class size: 12
Average time to graduate: N/A
Funding: Full tuition and living stipend provided
Star professors: Francis Fukuyama, Stephen Krasner, Condoleezza Rice
Website: http://politicalscience.stanford.edu/

4. Columbia University

Admitted class size: 20
Average time to graduate: 5-7 years
Funding: Guaranteed five-year fellowship, including living stipends
Star professors: Jagdish Bhagwati, Robert Jervis, Jeffrey Sachs

Website: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/polisci/index.html

5. Yale University

Admitted class size: 23
Average time to graduate: 6.7
Funding: Guaranteed funding for five years. The first four years of tuition are guaranteed, followed by a university dissertation fellowship
Star professors: Bruce Ackerman, David Cameron, Bruce Russett
Website: http://www.yale.edu/polisci/index.html

5. University of Chicago

Admitted class size: 15-20
Average time to graduate: N/A
Funding: Full tuition, plus $21,000 for five years, including $3,000 summer funding
Star professors: John Mearsheimer, Robert Pape

7. University of California/San Diego

Admitted class size: 15-20
Average time to graduate: 5-6 years
Funding: Guaranteed for four years, followed by teaching assistantships
Star professors: Peter Gourevitch, Larry Krause, Susan Shirk
Website: http://irps.ucsd.edu/programs/phd-in-political-science-and-international-affairs-phd/

8. University of California/Berkeley

Admitted class size: 18-26
Average time to graduate: 5-6 years, including 1 year of field research
Funding: Five years of funding via fellowships, research, and teaching assistantships, (contingent on California residency)
Star professors: Barry Eichengreen
Website: http://polisci.berkeley.edu/

9. University of Michigan/Ann Arbor

Admitted class size: 12-17
Average time to graduate: 4-6 years
Funding: Five years of funding, including a fellowship for the first year
Star professors: Paul Courant, Kenneth Lieberthal Website: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/polisci/

9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Admitted Class Size: 7-11
Average Time to Graduate: 5-6 years
Funding: Five years of funding, including nine-month stipends
Star professors: Daron Acemoglu, Barry R. Posen, Daniel Posner

Website: http://web.mit.edu/polisci/academic-programs/graduate/phd.shtml

Kedar Pavgi is an editorial researcher at Foreign Policy.

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