Master of Science in Foreign Service

About MSFS

Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service conferred the first graduate degree in international affairs in 1922, pre-dating the US State Department's adoption of the term "foreign service." Since that initial class, over 3,000 students have completed the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) Program. Graduates have attained notable success in careers with national governments, international organizations, private businesses and civil society groups.

Today MSFS is recognized as one of the most selective programs in the world. As reported in the January 25, 2012 issue of Foreign Policy, a recent survey of international relations faculty ranked Georgetown first among the field's professionally-oriented masters degrees.

Attention to the individual student is a hallmark of the MSFS Program, with small classes, faculty-student interaction, and life-long friendships cited regularly in post-graduation surveys. Other attractions include the Program's distinguished faculty, the Washington, DC location, and a curriculum that integrates multidisciplinary core requirements with skills training, internships and field experience.

Curriculum and Faculty

International careers increasingly require knowledge and skills that transcend the confines of traditional academic disciplines. The MSFS Program addresses this with a multidisciplinary course of study that integrates theory and practice. The curriculum offers:

• a full-time, two-year, 48-credit program
• small classes with interactive teaching and learning
• required core courses that provide cross-disciplinary insights into the dynamic international system
• advanced courses in economics, history, politics and business as well as quantitative methods, analytical skills and foreign languages
• a choice of three professional concentration areas: international relations and security, international development, international commerce and business
• specializations that integrate classes, skills training, internship opportunities and unique, practitioner-taught workshops

The MSFS faculty encompasses scholar-teachers and practitioners. Faculty teaching MSFS students include Charles Kupchan, Victor Cha, Kathleen McNamara, John McNeill, Carol Lancaster and Theodore Moran. Among the more notable practitioners are Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Georgetown alumnus Andrew Natsios (Director, US Agency for International Development). Adjunct faculty include executives from the World Bank, Citigroup, Exxon, ITT, McKinsey, Sidley Austin, FINCA and Knight Ridder Newspapers.

Practitioners serve as Concentration Coordinators for each field of study. Their applied professional insights complement the full-time faculty's role in advising on course selection, internships, career preparation, and employment opportunities. Practitioners also offer optional one or two-day skills clinics; recent examples include global strategy concepts and approaches, international development project design and evaluation, and business risk assessment and management techniques.

MSFS Mission: Leadership in Service to the Global Community

The Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) is the longest-standing professional master’s degree in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Its goal is to prepare women and men to be creative leaders in the public, private and non-profit sectors of international affairs. In keeping with the vision of the School’s founder, Father Edmund A. Walsh, SJ, MSFS seeks to instill in its students a commitment to service in the international community and an appreciation for the ethical dimension of international affairs.

Learning Goals

The Master of Science in Foreign Service supports student engagement in the study and practice of international affairs through aquisition of knowledge areas (such as history, political science, and economics); critical skills; and strategic skills.

See: MSFS Learning Goals

Meet the staff

MSFS Staff

About Georgetown