NPSIA (Carleton) – MA International Affairs Fall 2026 Admissions

[AZZ]

41 minutes ago, MJHawke said:

Congrats!! 🥳 

Was there an update on Carleton 360 a few days before your offer, or did you just receive the email on the same day it changed from “review by department” status? If you don’t mind me asking…

Hi, thank you! I actually checked a million times before and there were no updates to my status (it stayed review in progress by dept.) before receiving an offer email.  
 

Now it’s been changed to Decision made: application approved.

[MyCreation]

18 hours ago, AZZ said:

I just received an offer today for the MA February 24th!

Congratulations 🎊 👏 

I am so glad to hear that things are moving again. 

[Lebom]

Did anyone else apply to GPSIA? How are you guys weighing the pros and cons of deciding where to go.. 

[SmileDaw896]

3 hours ago, Lebom said:

Did anyone else apply to GPSIA? How are you guys weighing the pros and cons of deciding where to go.. 

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been following this forum for the last month. Wishing all those that are waiting  all the best. And congratulations to those that have heard back. 
I applied and was accepted to GPSIA with a merit scholarship. I accepted the offer.

If I were to be accepted to NPSIA, I would look at what , if anything, I get for scholarship. That’ll be my deciding factor.
Right now, I’ve identified NPSIA faculty I would love to with, so they have that edge. 

I think some additional things to consider is environment, one is in the heart of downtown Ottawa and the other is by a river. Both programs are good either way.

[Bohm]

4 hours ago, Lebom said:

Did anyone else apply to GPSIA? How are you guys weighing the pros and cons of deciding where to go.. 

The only other school I applied to was Basillie. A central decision factor personally is finances... getting real now trying to think of how to financially manage the degree. 

Second factor is trying to weigh which school best appeals to my specific research interests. 

[phynpwdt]

6 hours ago, Lebom said:

Did anyone else apply to GPSIA? How are you guys weighing the pros and cons of deciding where to go.. 

I applied for GPSIA, and got some funding. I'm waiting for NPSIA, but I think the primary deciding factor for me would be how much funding I get

[MyCreation]

7 hours ago, Lebom said:

Did anyone else apply to GPSIA? How are you guys weighing the pros and cons of deciding where to go.. 

I applied to GPSIA and accepted the offer in December. 

I got a merit scholarship and just waiting to see if NPSIA sends a better funding offer.

NPSIA was initially my first choice but seeing how they've made me wait, I am leaning towards GPSIA. 

I've also been able to apply for many other internal scholarships at uOttawa and I am missing out on those at Carleton University cos of NPSIA's delay.

[Lebom]

Hi all quick update that my status has moved to “Review in progress by Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral affairs” 

[SMR9]

Hi everyone. I am in a similar boat, but swapped. I received a good offer to NPSIA with funding in January, which I accepted at that time. However, in February, I received an offer from GSPIA with strong funding & surprisingly a named scholarship based on my proposed area of study. This prompted me to take a stronger look at GSPIA. 
 

While NPSIA had been my top choice before and i was pretty much mentally set on going there, GSPIA is starting to look more appealing. They are very similar, both have strong coops and focus on training students in similar ways. I’ve noticed GSPIA has a larger faculty base, and you can access other scholars at UOttawa such as in SIDGS for other folks interested in development. They also have a strong bilingual focus, and I need to improve my French. I know NPSIA has higher prestige and name recognition, and the strong sub field model is appealing to me, but both are great programs, and I’m starting to think I may have a better student experience at GSPIA.
 

Anyone else considering similar factors? 

[Lebom]

Hi all! I received my acceptance about an hour ago. Leaning towards GPSIA I have received slightly better funding and as I heard from my professors it is better implemented within the government and amazing faculty. 

Edited March 3 by Lebom

[phynpwdt]

19 hours ago, Lebom said:

Hi all! I received my acceptance about an hour ago. Leaning towards GPSIA I have received slightly better funding and as I heard from my professors it is better implemented within the government and amazing faculty. 

Congrats!! Sorry, can I ask what do you mean by better implemented within the government?

 

[Lebom]

10 minutes ago, phynpwdt said:

Congrats!! Sorry, can I ask what do you mean by better implemented within the government?

 

I’m actually a student at Carleton, but one of my professors teaches at uOttawa and was telling me about some of the initiatives they’ve been running there recently. For example, the Faculty of Social Sciences hosted a policy hackathon where students worked in teams over a weekend to develop solutions to real policy and institutional challenges, with mentorship from practitioners and alumni. It’s part of a broader push they’ve been making toward more applied policy training. They also have CIPS (Centre for International Policy Studies), which regularly hosts policy events and panels with people from Global Affairs, DND, and other departments, so students are pretty plugged into the policy community. 

[phynpwdt]

2 hours ago, Lebom said:

I’m actually a student at Carleton, but one of my professors teaches at uOttawa and was telling me about some of the initiatives they’ve been running there recently. For example, the Faculty of Social Sciences hosted a policy hackathon where students worked in teams over a weekend to develop solutions to real policy and institutional challenges, with mentorship from practitioners and alumni. It’s part of a broader push they’ve been making toward more applied policy training. They also have CIPS (Centre for International Policy Studies), which regularly hosts policy events and panels with people from Global Affairs, DND, and other departments, so students are pretty plugged into the policy community. 

Oh that makes a lot of sense, thank you!

[Bohm]

Has anyone heard of/applied to the Balsillie School of International Affairs at uWaterloo? Thoughts? 

[phynpwdt]

16 hours ago, Bohm said:

Has anyone heard of/applied to the Balsillie School of International Affairs at uWaterloo? Thoughts? 

I was thinking to apply, but didn't end up applying. I could be wrong, so please take it with a grain of salt. The Balsillie school has a couple of programs, some of which are at Waterloo (Master of Global Governance, Master of Development practice) as well as Wilfred Laurier. At least for the Master of Global Governance, I've heard that they're a bit more research-focused

[SMR9]

Hi everyone - wanted to give an update on my prev post and mention that even though NPSIA was originally my top, I actually decided GSPIA would be a better fit for me right now, and accepted my offer there.  I spoke with some current students at NPSIA (first year, second year, and recently graduated) and was told that even since the fall, they have seen a distinct reduction in elective course offerings at Carleton. I know that all post-sec institutions are struggling financially right now, but it seems like UOttawa has handled it better that Carleton, and has not cut as many courses. Carleton is also no longer teaching arabic at all. Thought that folks here may want to know that as well... both are great programs, wishing everyone here a successful and fulfilling masters experience!

[MJHawke]

8 hours ago, SMR9 said:

Hi everyone - wanted to give an update on my prev post and mention that even though NPSIA was originally my top, I actually decided GSPIA would be a better fit for me right now, and accepted my offer there.  I spoke with some current students at NPSIA (first year, second year, and recently graduated) and was told that even since the fall, they have seen a distinct reduction in elective course offerings at Carleton. I know that all post-sec institutions are struggling financially right now, but it seems like UOttawa has handled it better that Carleton, and has not cut as many courses. Carleton is also no longer teaching arabic at all. Thought that folks here may want to know that as well... both are great programs, wishing everyone here a successful and fulfilling masters experience!

Thanks for the update SMR9, and best of luck at GSPIA!!!

[theguywhodid]

Okay Is it just me? I have been waiting out since October. No update no decision change whatsoever. At this point I don't even know what to think. International student by the way. Or is it possible we have been wait listed without any update

Edited March 11 by theguywhodid

[MJHawke]

1 hour ago, theguywhodid said:

Okay Is it just me? I have been waiting out since October. No update no decision change whatsoever. At this point I don't even know what to think. International student by the way. Or is it possible we have been wait listed without any update

Hey, you’re not alone! I’m an international student myself and applied very early (August 2025). I don’t know about being wait listed… but so far, I’ve only heard of domestic applicants having received a decision. ☹️

I’ve tried to request updates from the admissions team several times, and they’ve just replied with the generic “we don’t provide updates via email, please check the portal”, and since January, they’ve stopped replying altogether. 
 

I’m at a loss at this point, as if I get accepted, I will still need to take the summer economics courses to meet the criteria, and as far as I know, the enrolment for those is supposed to begin this month for a May start. ☹️

Please, let me know when you receive your offer 👍 I’ll make sure I do the same if I get any updates.

[Navi17]

Hey Guys, any domestic students applied late in February and are still waiting for their decisions? 

[phynpwdt]

31 minutes ago, Navi17 said:

Hey Guys, any domestic students applied late in February and are still waiting for their decisions? 

Hey, I'm domestic but, I applied at the end of January. I still haven't heard back. I thought the deadline was Jan 31st, unless you were affected by the federal public service layoffs?

[MyCreation]

On 3/9/2026 at 6:56 PM, SMR9 said:

Hi everyone - wanted to give an update on my prev post and mention that even though NPSIA was originally my top, I actually decided GSPIA would be a better fit for me right now, and accepted my offer there.  I spoke with some current students at NPSIA (first year, second year, and recently graduated) and was told that even since the fall, they have seen a distinct reduction in elective course offerings at Carleton. I know that all post-sec institutions are struggling financially right now, but it seems like UOttawa has handled it better that Carleton, and has not cut as many courses. Carleton is also no longer teaching arabic at all. Thought that folks here may want to know that as well... both are great programs, wishing everyone here a successful and fulfilling masters experience!

See you at GPSIA in the fall then.

I am more leaning towards that. Even though I have not heard anything from NPSIA despite being a domestic student who applied in June 2025.

Unless they offer way better than the funding I was given by GPSIA, I am not considering then at the moment. 

I am also waiting on OGS funding cos I applied at both universities. We'll see who offers me the $15,000 and then some.

[Navi17]

3 hours ago, phynpwdt said:

I applied in late Jan, but my references were submitted late in Feb. The status says review in progress by the department since 2 weeks. 

[phynpwdt]

Hi guys! Just an update, my application has moved to "Review in progress by Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral affairs" a few hours ago. I'm hoping I'll finally hear back soon!

[SmileDaw896]

6 hours ago, phynpwdt said:

Hi guys! Just an update, my application has moved to "Review in progress by Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral affairs" a few hours ago. I'm hoping I'll finally hear back soon!

I checked mine earlier today and I saw that change as well.