Over the past two decades, the number of academic institutions providing education and training in international peace and conflict resolution in the United States has grown. Much of this development has been at the graduate level. In the fall of 2005, to assess the current state of the field more accurately, the United States Institute of Peace commissioned the Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT) to study the level of academic preparation of graduate students and professionals seeking careers in the international peace and conflict field. The research explored the match between academic program offerings and the needs of the organizations and agencies that hire individuals for international conflict work. Continued contact since then with faculty, students, and employers has both extended and supported the findings. This report offers an overview of those findings, highlights existing gaps, and outlines concrete recommendations on how academic programs can better prepare students. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure, and 13 notes.)