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Best Schools for International/Global Studies in 2026

81 schools ranked by DegreeWorth Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering International/Global Studies, ranked by DegreeWorth Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average International/Global Studies graduate earns $34,874/yr across 81 schools.

Programs Ranked

Avg Earnings

$34,874/yr

Avg DW Score

30/100

AI Risk

Moderate

36% task exposure

All International/Global Studies Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	American Public University System Charles Town, WV · Private for-profit	64 64–64	$64,133/yr	23.8x
2	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	52 53–52	$42,701/yr	14.9x
3	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	50 51–50	$45,168/yr	11.1x
4	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL · Public	50 53–50	$38,953/yr	24.0x
5	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	48 51–48	$39,082/yr	13.1x
6	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	47 48–48	$44,446/yr	9.5x
7	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	45 44–45	$55,240/yr	9.7x
8	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	45 47–46	$41,886/yr	11.0x
9	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT · Public	45 50–46	$36,883/yr	16.2x
10	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	45 48–46	$40,594/yr	12.7x
11	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	43 43–43	$45,648/yr	11.8x
12	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD · Public	41 41–42	$49,115/yr	8.5x
13	Bentley University Waltham, MA · Private nonprofit	41 41–41	$75,006/yr	2.2x
14	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private nonprofit	41 41–41	$51,371/yr	2.0x
15	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK · Public	41 48–42	$32,129/yr	16.7x
16	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	40 48–41	$29,043/yr	24.3x
17	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN · Private nonprofit	40 40–40	$69,362/yr	1.8x
18	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	39 39–39	$46,660/yr	6.9x
19	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	39 43–40	$38,410/yr	8.8x
20	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	39 44–40	$36,926/yr	12.4x
21	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA · Public	37 43–37	$33,553/yr	10.0x
22	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID · Private nonprofit	37 45–38	$29,287/yr	28.3x
23	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	36 42–36	$33,388/yr	10.0x
24	Colby College Waterville, ME · Private nonprofit	36 37–36	$42,756/yr	2.0x
25	University at Albany Albany, NY · Public	36 41–36	$35,683/yr	11.5x
26	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	35 40–36	$37,161/yr	9.7x
27	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit	35 37–35	$40,189/yr	2.2x
28	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	34 36–35	$42,197/yr	4.0x
29	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA · Private nonprofit	33 33–33	$46,530/yr	0.9x
30	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	33 41–34	$32,206/yr	15.3x
31	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI · Public	33 41–34	$31,433/yr	12.5x
32	The University of the South Sewanee, TN · Private nonprofit	32 34–32	$42,390/yr	2.0x
33	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	32 36–32	$37,397/yr	7.2x
34	University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL · Public	31 39–32	$30,861/yr	16.3x
35	California State University-Monterey Bay Seaside, CA · Public	31 38–32	$34,246/yr	10.5x
36	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO · Public	30 37–31	$33,892/yr	7.4x
37	University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE · Public	30 36–31	$33,798/yr	11.6x
38	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ · Public	30 35–31	$37,161/yr	—
39	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI · Public	29 36–30	$32,147/yr	7.9x
40	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	28 36–29	$31,589/yr	10.3x
41	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	28 35–29	$30,621/yr	10.0x
42	University of Vermont Burlington, VT · Public	28 34–29	$33,757/yr	6.0x
43	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	27 35–28	$28,919/yr	9.3x
44	Spelman College Atlanta, GA · Private nonprofit	27 34–27	$25,753/yr	5.1x
45	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA · Public	27 35–28	$28,140/yr	10.7x
46	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO · Private nonprofit	27 30–27	$38,854/yr	0.5x
47	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	27 34–28	$33,504/yr	6.1x
48	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	27 35–28	$29,132/yr	13.8x
49	Brandeis University Waltham, MA · Private nonprofit	26 31–27	$36,874/yr	1.7x
50	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC · Public	26 30–26	$21,830/yr	14.3x
51	Wright State University-Main Campus Dayton, OH · Public	26 33–27	$32,819/yr	6.3x
52	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO · Public	25 32–26	$25,307/yr	11.2x
53	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY · Public	25 32–25	$26,104/yr	9.0x
54	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	25 33–26	$30,365/yr	10.2x
55	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	24 32–24	$27,416/yr	8.3x
56	Centre College Danville, KY · Private nonprofit	23 29–24	$35,367/yr	0.7x
57	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM · Public	23 31–24	$28,238/yr	7.7x
58	Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Shippensburg, PA · Public	23 30–23	$30,124/yr	4.6x
59	College of Charleston Charleston, SC · Public	23 30–23	$25,764/yr	8.4x
60	Saint Edward's University Austin, TX · Private nonprofit	23 28–24	$36,305/yr	1.9x
61	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	22 30–23	$30,438/yr	3.8x
62	Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO · Public	22 30–23	$27,814/yr	6.7x
63	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	22 30–23	$29,118/yr	5.2x
64	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA · Private nonprofit	21 26–22	$36,920/yr	1.2x
65	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public	21 29–22	$29,013/yr	4.2x
66	University of Oregon Eugene, OR · Public	21 29–22	$28,502/yr	6.4x
67	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	21 29–22	$30,754/yr	2.5x
68	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI · Public	21 28–22	$25,217/yr	10.4x
69	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	20 24–21	$21,428/yr	7.6x
70	Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, MO · Public	20 28–21	$25,984/yr	5.8x
71	Appalachian State University Boone, NC · Public	20 26–21	$23,073/yr	6.6x
72	Liberty University Lynchburg, VA · Private nonprofit	20 28–21	$30,349/yr	2.6x
73	University of Dayton Dayton, OH · Private nonprofit	19 26–20	$32,994/yr	1.9x
74	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY · Private nonprofit	18 26–19	$30,759/yr	1.8x
75	University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA · Private nonprofit	18 19–19	$16,037/yr	-0.3x
76	Emmanuel College Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	17 25–18	$29,688/yr	0.6x
77	Arcadia University Glenside, PA · Private nonprofit	16 23–17	$30,872/yr	1.7x
78	Saint Mary's College Notre Dame, IN · Private nonprofit	14 21–15	$25,164/yr	0.2x
79	The New School New York, NY · Private nonprofit	11 19–12	$27,652/yr	1.0x
80	St Lawrence University Canton, NY · Private nonprofit	10 17–11	$26,016/yr	0.9x
81	Macalester College Saint Paul, MN · Private nonprofit	9 13–10	$21,176/yr	1.0x

Methodology

Programs are ranked by DegreeWorth Score, which combines four equally weighted factors: graduate earnings (Year 1 after graduation), AI automation resilience (based on OpenAI and academic research), job market size (BLS annual openings), and earnings-to-tuition multiple (10-year projected earnings vs. 4-year tuition).

Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which reports actual median earnings of graduates — not self-reported surveys.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for International/Global Studies?

Based on our DegreeWorth Score, American Public University System ranks #1 for International/Global Studies with a score of 64/100 and graduate earnings of $64,133/yr.

How much do International/Global Studies graduates earn?

Across 81 schools, International/Global Studies graduates earn an average of $34,874/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $75,006/yr.

Is International/Global Studies a good major for AI resistance?

International/Global Studies has an average AI task exposure of 36%, rated "Moderate". This field has moderate AI exposure — some career paths are more resilient than others.

Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024–2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Last updated 2025.