International Fellows Program

Columbia University is a global institution where students from around the world and faculty from all disciplines address the rapid political, economic, social, and intellectual transformations of our time. Through its International Fellows Program (IFP), Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) has for half a century offered students a unique course of graduate study that combines a heightened understanding of international change with practical preparation to deal with the new world it is creating.

The International Fellows Program is a two-semester seminar open to students of all graduate degree programs at Columbia University. The diverse perspectives and professional backgrounds that fellows bring to the program enrich their year-long common enterprise.

All fellows receive a stipend and study a curriculum with two goals – to examine the origins of the current international order, in which the United States has for decades played the leading role, and to look ahead to the new world that is emerging, dominated by a larger number of actors, new problems, and approaches to problem solving that have yet to be defined. Weekly meetings of the International Fellows Program are supplemented by study trips to Washington, D.C., and the United Nations, where fellows have extraordinary access to senior policymakers, diplomats, legislators, journalists, and leaders of non governmental organizations.

Curriculum

During their first of two semesters in IFP, students develop an understanding of the emergence of the United States as a dominant world power, including a historical review of U.S. foreign policy focusing on key episodes and developments over its first two centuries.

In their second semester, students focus on a post-Cold War world that has become less American, more globalized, and more multipolar, while confronting a new array of problems and challenges.

Throughout both semesters, students will meet with current practitioners and other outside speakers, write and present policy papers, and visit the United Nations and key policymakers in Washington, D.C.

Program Requirements

The International Fellows Program (IFP) is open to any student pursuing a graduate or PhD program at Columbia University. All candidates are asked to submit a résumé or CV, transcripts, a statement of interest (no longer than 300 words) for consideration, and a letter of recommendation. 

For students applying to SIPA:
Students may submit an IFP statement of interest as part of their application for admission to SIPA. The résumé, transcript(s), and letters of recommendation submitted to the Office of Admissions will be used in consideration for the International Fellows Program. The application for the Fall 2024 semester is due along with your SIPA Fall application.

For continuing SIPA and non-SIPA students:
Please apply online, using the link on this page. The application for the Fall 2024 semester will be available on this page from April 5, 2024, until May 3 at 11:59 p.m. 

Applications are evaluated based on academic records, professional promise, recommendations from previous instructors, and an applicant’s demonstrated and estimated ability to emerge as a leader in his or her chosen field and in the field of international affairs.

Leadership

Ambassador Victoria Nuland is Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy and Director of the International Fellows Program at SIPA.  She is also affiliated with SIPA’s Institute for Global Politics and Member of the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). 

A U.S. diplomat for 35 years, she served six U.S. Presidents and 10 Secretaries of State of both political parties and holds the rank of Career Ambassador.  She was Acting Deputy Secretary of State from July 2023 until March 2024, and served concurrently as Under Secretary for Political Affairs.  Her tenure as U/S for Political Affairs began in April 2021.