International Studies (Major) at Simon Fraser University

Programme overview

The International Studies major is a Bachelor of Arts studying contemporary international challenges through history, political science, anthropology, sociology, geography, international relations, economics and the humanities. It prepares students for internationally engaged careers through research, analysis and policy writing.

Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences | Department: School for International Studies | Study mode: full-time | Location: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

What you will study

Students complete 15 lower division IS units and 36 upper division units including Research Methods in International Studies and Seminar on Global Problems in Interdisciplinary Perspective, with at least 16 of the remaining 24 upper division units in IS and four at 400 level.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Students can apply for the international studies major after meeting the posted CGPA requirement on the international studies website and successfully completing nine international studies units. Please see the international studies website for additional details on program declaration. Students must obtain C- or higher in all courses used toward the program. For graduation, students must obtain a minimum 2.00 CGPA, 2.00 UDGPA, 2.00 international studies subject CGPA (calculated on all IS courses completed at SFU), and 2.00 international studies subject UDGPA (calculated on all upper division IS courses completed at SFU).

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the courses you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Fall (September), Spring (January) and Summer (May) terms; most students start in the fall term.

Fall 2027: high school applications open 1 October 2026 and close 31 January 2027; other post-secondary transfer applications open 1 March 2027 and close 15 April 2027. Summer 2027: all applications open 1 December 2026 and close 15 January 2027. Spring 2027: all applications opened 1 July 2026 and close 15 September 2026.

The non-refundable application fee is 86 CAD for domestic students and 130 CAD for international students, payable online by credit card. Applications are submitted through EducationPlannerBC.

Apply through the official page: https://www.sfu.ca/students/admission.html

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