Scholars in the field of international relations have again rated the Graduate School of International Studies one of the best international relations programs in the United States.

The biennial survey conducted by researchers at the College of William and Mary asked teaching faculty at universities and other institutions nationwide what they thought were the best terminal master’s degree programs in international relations for students pursuing a “policy career.” GSIS’ master’s degree program ranked 9th in the nation, ahead of such schools as Syracuse, University of Chicago, Yale, Stanford, University of California-Berkeley, and MIT. In the 2004/2005 survey, GSIS’ program ranked 10th. The new survey results were published in the March/April 2007 issue of Foreign Policy magazine in the article “The View from the Ivory Tower: What International Professors Think About Foreign Policy.”

“Ninth is nice and it reflects the continuing reputational march of the school, but first will always be our goal,” says GSIS Dean Tom Farer. “Moreover, beyond reputation there is substance. In terms of our substantive program, and considering the value we are able to add to the practical idealists who come to GSIS, we have, in my view, no superior.”

In the 2006/2007 survey, “The View From the Ivory Tower: TRIP Survey of International Relations Faculty in the United States and Canada,” the researchers polled international relations faculty at 1,199 colleges and universities, including national research universities, masters-granting institutions, liberal arts colleges, and military colleges. Foreign Policy reported that more than 40 percent of all international relations professors in the US—1,112 individuals—responded to the survey.

The survey was broader than the previous study. Participants were asked a host of new questions, including, for example, the most influential international relations scholars, which journals had the “greatest impact” on their thinking about their subject, what real-world events most influenced their research, as well as the greatest foreign policy challenges facing the US today.