The minimum requirement for admission into the master's program is a B.A. (Honours) degree in a discipline related to international affairs.

All students entering the MA or MA/JD program must have a four year undergraduate degree or the equivalent. As we are an interdisciplinary program, we will accept students from a wide variety of backgrounds such as political science, international relations, global affairs, law, public policy, sociology, anthropology and economics. We welcome students with other backgrounds, for instance in Science, English or Arts, but encourage them to take a few undergraduate courses in international affairs to prepare for NPSIA. In some cases where the student is deemed by the admissions committee to have an insufficient background in international affairs, they may be required to complete up to two additional courses as part of their MA program.
Under current practice, at least a high honours standing (B+ or 77% minimum GPA) is normally required to be considered for admission to the program.
Students admitted to the NPSIA MA program must have successfully completed a 1.0 credit standard first year course in introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics, with a minimum grade of B- before starting the program (ECON 1001 and ECON 1002 at Carleton, or an equivalent). Students can be made a conditional offer of admission to complete this requirement prior to starting the MA program. Not all economics courses or grades are accepted, so please contact the School if you have any questions.

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs requires applicants whose native tongue is not English to be tested for proficiency in English. NPSIA applicants must submit a CAEL Assessment™ score of a minimum of 70 or a TOEFL score of 250 computer-based or 100 iBT (minimum score of 25 in each of reading, writing, speaking and listening), or an IELTS score of 8.0, with a minimum of 7.5 in any subcategory.