US News ranks 14 ASU graduate programs in top 10

March 30, 2021
Mary Beth Faller

Arizona State University has 14 graduate degree programs ranked in the top 10 nationwide, according to new rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

Of the 14 top-ranked degree programs, half are in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. The list was released March 30 after the magazine assessed more than 2,100 degree programs for 2022.

U.S. News & World Report provides several higher education rankings throughout the year, and last fall rated ASU as the most innovative university in the country for the sixth year in a row.

The highest ranked graduate degree program for 2022 at ASU is the doctorate in criminology and criminal justice, in the Watts College, which tied for second place with the University of California at Irvine and ranked ahead of Penn State and Florida State. Last year, that ASU program ranked fifth.

The other top 10 graduate degree programs at ASU, with last year’s ranking in parentheses, are:

Supply chain, in the W. P. Carey School of Business: No. 3 (3), ahead of Ohio State, Penn State and Stanford University.
Legal writing, in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law: No. 3 (7), ahead of Georgetown University and the University of Michigan.
Information and technology, in the School of Public Affairs in the Watts College: No. 3 (not a ranked category last year), ahead of the University of Southern California.
Local government management, in the School of Public Affairs: No. 3 (3), ahead of Syracuse University and the University of Southern California.
Homeland security, in the School of Public Affairs: No. 3 (3), ahead of Harvard, Columbia and George Washington universities.
Project management, in W. P. Carey: No. 5 (4), ahead of the University of Texas.
Environmental policy, in the School of Public Affairs: tied for No. 5 (8), ahead of Columbia and Harvard universities.
Nonprofit management, in the School of Public Affairs: No. 5 (9), ahead of New York University and American University.
Leadership, in the School of Public Affairs: No. 5 (6), ahead of Harvard, the University of Southern California and Ohio State.
Urban policy, in the School of Public Affairs: tied for No. 5 (5), ahead of the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Chicago and Harvard.
Information systems, in W. P. Carey: No. 7 (13), ahead of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Berkeley.
Elementary teacher education, in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College: No. 7 (13), ahead of Ohio State and Stanford.
Business analytics, in W. P. Carey: No. 10 (11), ahead of Duke, Columbia and the University of Michigan.

Overall, 33 graduate degree programs at ASU were in the top 20, including special education and production/operations, both 11th, and accounting and secondary teacher education, both 12th.

“The scholarship and research of our graduate students and faculty in graduate programs across ASU have contributed greatly to the growing national reputation of ASU as a top destination for a high quality graduate education,” said Mark Searle, executive vice president and university provost. “And, the newly released U.S. News & World Report rankings for graduate programs shine a light on the fact that our academic excellence is not siloed in a limited number of academic disciplines, but rather experienced across the university in fields as diverse as social sciences, education, business, arts and engineering.”

U.S. News & World Report also ranked overall graduate schools.

The overall graduate program in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College tied for 11th place with the University of Southern California, and ahead of Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at Berkeley. Among public universities in this category, ASU ranked fourth.

The School of Public Affairs graduate program tied for 13th place with American University, Columbia University, Ohio State University, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Chicago.

The full-time law program at the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law ranked as the No. 9 public law school, ahead of the University of Georgia, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The program tied for 25th place overall.

The full-time MBA degree program in the W. P. Carey School of Business ranked 30, up from 35 last year, and ahead of Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame. The part-part MBA program tied for 22. Overall, 11 of the 14 graduate degrees programs in W. P. Carey that were ranked were in the top 20.

“We are thrilled to see ASU’s efforts to build outstanding graduate programs for our students recognized nationally because graduate education is critical to ASU’s success,” said Elizabeth Wentz, vice provost and dean of the Graduate College at ASU. “Today’s rankings confirm that our graduate students are learning from top notch faculty, advancing research and the discovery of public value and making a difference In Arizona and around the world.”

The data for the rankings came from statistical surveys of more than 2,100 programs and from surveys sent to more than 23,000 academics and professionals, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The remaining degrees in the top 20 are: special education, No. 11; production/operations, No. 11; accounting, No. 12; secondary teacher education, No. 12; dispute resolution, tied for No. 13; curriculum and instruction, No. 14; educational administration, No. 14; education policy, tied for No. 15; management, tied for No. 16; health care law, tied for No. 16; public finance, No. 16; executive MBA, No. 18; industrial engineering, tied for No. 18; finance, No. 20; international business, tied for No. 20; marketing, tied for No. 20; environmental engineering, tied for No. 20; environmental law, tied for No. 20; public policy analysis, No. 20.