Does getting a graduate degree outside of your country hurt your job prospects at home?

[mrgreen102]

We all know that there are great international affairs/government affairs programs outside of the U.S.  For example, the London School of Economics has a great reputation.

 

Would an American citizen hurt their job prospects at home if they get a international affairs graduate degree from a university outside of the U.S.?

[Seeking]

Not if it's a great school like the London School of Economics, or Oxford, Cambridge, SOAS, UCL, King's College London - or even a prestigious university in the rest of Europe for that matter.

[mrgreen102]

What about Canada or Australia?

[GomSaem (Bear Teacher)]

Yes. Unless you already have a job that you will go back to after graduating, I don't recommend getting a degree overseas. I have an MSc from the LSE and it was almost worthless for getting a job back home in the US. The career services could not offer any advice and the LSE discontinued their DC job fair the year I was there. 

[lacanadiense]

Yes. I have personal experience with this. You are not going to have great networks back in the U.S., which is surprisingly crippling when looking for a job, not to mention establishing a social life. If you're planning to move back to a city where you already have a network established, that's one thing. But if say you're trying to go from San Diego to London to DC, it will take some extra hustle. Also, you'd be surprised at how many otherwise educated Americans are completely ignorant about non-U.S. schools (with the exception of maybe having a general conception that Oxbridge is top-notch).

 

I suppose an exception might be if LSE has a reputation in the specific field you're hoping to enter (I have no idea about this either way). I would try to talk to LSE alumni who are working in the U.S. to gauge their experiences.

[harrista]

Even Australians tend not to do professional masters programs like LLMs or MBAs in Australia unless work pays for it and you do it part time.  MPA/MPPs are not well known at all even in the public service where I work, and the few people I know who have done them locally are senior executives sponsored by government departments to study full time.  Everyone else around my age (5-8 yrs work experience) heads to a big name university in the US or Europe which employers tend to be very supportive of, in terms of granting study leave, subsidising tuition or holding your position open for a few years while you study and get some work experience overseas.  So yeah, I wouldn't recommend doing an MPA/MPP here unless you're trying to get a job in Australia in that field. 

[EvenK]

In Europe, Sciences Po and IHEID also have good reps. Though, it is sad that certain employers only seem to value US institutions. Arrogance/ignorance. 

[mrgreen102]

In Europe, Sciences Po and IHEID also have good reps. Though, it is sad that certain employers only seem to value US institutions. Arrogance/ignorance. 

I agree that it is a shame how degrees from universities outside of the U.S. are sometimes seen as inferior by American employers.  I can understand why some employers might be hesitant if they see that your university is in a third-world country and that they may think that the degree is not up to proper standards.  But is an IA graduate degree from the University of Toronto any worse than an IA graduate degree from American University?