Duquesne University International Relations (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in International Relations and National Security Studies
- Private nonprofit university
- Pittsburgh, PA
- About 16 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Duquesne University international relations graduates earn about what international relations graduates earn nationally, $39,630 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $26,113 in federal loans, more than at 93% of international relations programs in the country. Several Pennsylvania programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all international relations bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Duquesne University graduates earn more than the national figure but about $6,630 less than the Pennsylvania median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania international relations program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 83% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $277 a month, or 8.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
19 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $50,583.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Pittsburgh area are about 5% below the national average, so a $39,630 salary here buys what about $41,861 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to international relations, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Political Scientists
$140,020Median pay in Pennsylvania. 70 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 400 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About Duquesne University
International Relations ranks 16th of 25 bachelor's programs at Duquesne University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,265), Computer Science ($65,098), and Computer and Information Science ($64,914).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,630 one year after graduating and $72,396 five years after. The median across international relations bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania is $45,858.
The median federal loan balance is $26,113, which ranks 5th lowest of 6 international relations bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $277 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 66% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 59%. Compare the cost with other Pennsylvania programs before deciding.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Pennsylvania comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the international relations program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024