U.S. News and World Report has ranked the La Follette School of Public Affairs 14th among more than 260 U.S. public affairs master’s programs, up from 17th in 2004, the last time the survey was conducted.
The rankings for public affairs schools are based solely on the results of a peer assessment survey conducted in fall 2007. “While a survey like this cannot capture the high quality of our programs, we are still pleased that our rankings are so strong,” says La Follette School Director Barbara Wolfe.
The rankings for three La Follette School programs improved, while two held steady. La Follette’s Social Policy focus field again ranked third, behind only Harvard and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Public Policy Analysis ranked 11th in both surveys.
“We are very pleased with our continued, exceptional standing in Social Policy, which puts us in the top 1 percent of the 269 programs and in front of very distinguished peer schools," says professor Carolyn Heinrich. “With the level of personal attention students get at the La Follette School, it is hard to imagine them getting a better graduate education in social policy anywhere else.”
Public Management and Administration ranked 17th in 2008, up from 20th, while Environmental Policy and Management climbed from 19th to 10th. “The environmental ranking is due in part to our strong partnership with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies,” Wolfe says. “It connects our faculty and students to a wide academic and professional community.”
Health Policy and Management ranked 16. “U.S. News didn’t even rank our Health Policy and Management program four years ago, so we are delighted that it made the top 20 this time around,” Wolfe says. “Our new dual-degree program with the university's School of Medicine and Public Health and our partnership with the Department of Population Health Sciences further strengthen our health policy and management focus.”
U.S. News asked deans, directors, department chairs and faculty members at 269 master's of public affairs and administration programs to rate the academic quality of master’s of public affairs programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Scores for each school were totaled and divided by the number of respondents who rated that school. The response rate was 40 percent. The survey did not address degrees in international public affairs.
The rankings are reported in U.S. News' America's Best Graduate Schools.
— posted March 28, 2008