<p>xiggi,</p>
<p>SAIS, which is the program that regularly places JHU at the top, is graduate only. An undergrad is very unlikely to benefit from JHU's poli sci department the same way an MA student at SAIS would benefit.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, JHU's poli sci department is still top-notch (top 15 or so) and an easy recommendation, SAIS-lessness notwithstanding.</p>
<p>Tufts was number-one a few years ago; as was Gtown another year. The master's list switches around often with those same 5 schools. (And I'm referring to the authoritative list by Foreign Policy journal.)</p>
<p>For undergrad, Tufts and Gtown have the best IR programs. I need to find the place where I read this and I'll back to you all. It might be in FP too, but I'm not sure.</p>
<p>lolabelle,</p>
<p>I can't really see Tufts at the top for MAs in the past 5 years or so. SAIS and Gtown have had a lock on the top two for quite a while, particularly due to location. This is not a knock at Tufts by any means, however. It's an excellent program, and easily top 5. However, as best as I can figure so far in the IR world, SAIS is king and has been for a while.</p>
<p>According to this year's Gourman Report, the best undergraduate programs in International Relations are, in order:</p>
<p>Tufts
Princeton
Johns Hopkins
Georgetown
U Penn
Harvard
Cornell
U Wisconsin Madison
MIT
Stanford
UVA
Notre Dame
US Air Force Acad
US Military Acad
Claremont McKenna</p>
<hr>
<p>(FYI: The Gourman Report states that its ratings are based on "extensive reseach" into the following criteria:</p>
<ol>
<li>auspices, control, and organization of the institution</li>
<li>numbers of educational programs offered and degrees conferred (with additional attention to "sub-fields" available to students within a particular discipline</li>
<li>age (experience level) of the institution and the individual discipline or program and division</li>
<li>faculty, including qualifications, experience, intellectual interests, attainments, and professional productivity (including research)</li>
<li>students, including quality of scholastic work and records of graduates both in graduate study and in practice</li>
<li>basis of and requirements for admission of students (overall and by individual discipline)</li>
<li>number of students enrolled (overall and for each discipline)</li>
<li>curriculum and curricular content of the program or discipline and division</li>
<li>standards and quality of instruction (including teaching loads)</li>
<li>quality of administration, including attitudes and policy towards teaching, research and scholarly production in each discipline, and administration research</li>
<li>quality and availability of non-departmental areas such as counseling and career placement services</li>
<li>quality of physical plant devoted to undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels</li>
<li>finances, including budgets, investments, expenditures and sources of income for both public and private institutions</li>
<li>library, including number of volumes, appropriateness of materials to individual disciplines and accessibility of materials</li>
<li>computer facility sufficient to support current research activities for both faculty and students</li>
<li>sufficient funding for research equipment and infrastructure</li>
<li>number of teaching and research assistantships</li>
<li>academic-athletic balance</li>
</ol>
<p>The weight given to each criterion above varies by discipline. )
lolabelle is online now</p>