MA Admissions
Applications to the MA program for 2027-2028 cycle (program starts from September, 2027) are open.
If you have questions, please get in touch. Our office can be reached by email at international.affairs@carleton.ca.
Academic Requirements
- 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 first-year introductory microeconomics course (0.5 credit) and a first-year introductory macroeconomics course (0.5 credit), 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.
Language Requirement
- NPSIA’s language of instruction is English. Carleton’s Department of Graduate Studies requires applicants whose first language is not English to demonstrate their proficiency in English. Carleton’s Graduate Studies Regulation 3.6 outlines the various ways in which applicants can satisfy this requirement, listed here: https://calendar.carleton.ca/grad/gradregulations/#applicationforadmission. Applicants who present their most recent degree and transcripts from a Canadian institution are exempt from language proficiency requirements.
Accelerated Pathway to NPSIA for undergraduate students at Carleton
The accelerated pathway at NPSIA is a flexible and individualized plan for students pursuing a Carleton undergraduate degree in a related discipline such as the Global and International Affairs (BGInS) and Public Affairs and Policy Management (BPAPM) degrees.
How to Apply
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To apply to the School and have your application package considered for review, you will need to complete the online application process:
Step 1. Sign up for a Carleton360 account.
Step 2. Complete your application by providing all of the required information and documents.
Completed documents to be uploaded to your account:
- Statement of Intent (to be completed as a word document, and uploaded as a PDF file);
- One official or unofficial transcript from each educational institution attended (unofficial transcripts can be uploaded for assessment purposes and official transcripts will only be required if you are admitted to the program);
- Two Referee Appraisal Forms (will be uploaded by your referees, once the referees have completed their appraisal forms);
- Resume/CV;
- Language Test Scores (if required)
Step 3. Pay the application fee. The application fee is paid directly to Carleton University by Visa, MasterCard or INTERAC Online at the end of the application process. You must submit and pay for your application in order for it to be processed further.
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Please note that if you need to update any application documents within your application, you can do so via Carleton Central under Graduate Applications. Documents may also be sent directly to Graduate Studies at graduate.studies@carleton.ca to be manually uploaded to your application.
Note that we will only review the most recently submitted document for each document category (e.g. Statement of Intent, CV, transcript etc.)
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Please note that if you need to update any application documents within your application, you can do so via Carleton Central under Graduate Applications. Documents may also be sent directly to Graduate Studies at graduate.studies@carleton.ca to be manually uploaded to your application.
Note that we will only review the most recently submitted document for each document category (e.g. Statement of Intent, CV, transcript etc.)
It is your responsibility to ensure that all required supporting documentation is uploaded in order to be considered for admissions and financial assistance. Hard copies or emailed copies are not accepted.
Applications received will be considered on a rolling basis until the program is filled.
Applicants should recognize that admission to the School of International Affairs is extremely competitive. Late applicants may discover that all places for the next academic year have been filled.
As part of the application process, applicants will be asked to rank their top 3 field choices (1-3). Each student admitted into the program will be placed into one of the 4 fields listed. Please visit the Graduate Calendar for a full description of each field:
Four Fields of Study
International Trade and Economic Policy (ITEP)
Diplomacy, International Organisations and Foreign Policy (DIFP)
Conflict, Fragility and Development (CFD)
National Security, Intelligence and Defence (NSID)
All applications for full-time study will automatically be considered for financial support, which will include a scholarship and a teaching assistantship (the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Carleton University offers a number of teaching assistantships under which students work as teaching assistant during the school year).
Students are encouraged to seek additional external funding apart from any funding they may receive from the school [ie. Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS) or Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)]
International MA funding
Please note that NPSIA does not offer admission-based funding for the international MA students. We appreciate your understanding and encourage you to explore alternative funding opportunities if needed.
Once students have begun their program, additional funding, awards and bursaries are available to NPSIA’s students.
Questions?
Admissions FAQ page
Please visit our Admissions FAQ page for more information regarding NPSIA’s MA programs.
MA FAQ page
For more FAQ’s about the program
updated Nov 2026