Ranking of Public Affairs, Public Policy, and Public Administration Graduate Schools

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Your Ranking of Public Affairs, Public Policy, and Public Administration PhD Programs

Programs 1–30
RankProgramRegres QualitySurvey QualityStudent OutcomesDiversityMinority StudentsMinority Faculty
1-5Johns Hopkins University Health Policy and Management14-441-23-1211-22 16% 12%
1-5Syracuse University Public Administration4-184-71-36-15 27% 11%
1-6Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School1-51-35-1439-48 8% 2%
1-7Indiana University-Bloomington Public Policy2-123-55-1521-34 18% 8%
2-7Carnegie Mellon University H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management3-152-45-1623-36 11% 11%
3-9Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Public Policy11-325-97-142-4 27% 10%
3-9University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Public Policy6-265-913-344-11 47% 6%
7-14Indiana University-Bloomington SPEA - Public Affairs/Policy PhD1-612-2416-3613-24 19% 12%
7-14Indiana University-Bloomington SPEA Masters Programs1-612-2416-3613-24 19% 12%
7-17University of California-Irvine Social Ecology17-3810-2115-364-10 33% 13%
7-15University of Delaware Urban Affairs and Public Policy (MPA)9-2725-3713-313-5 36% 23%
7-15University of Delaware Urban Affairs and Public Policy (UAPP)9-2725-3713-313-5 36% 23%
8-16University of Southern California Policy, Planning and Development1-312-2231-419-19 24% 8%
8-16Harvard University KSG Public Policy5-216-102-942-51 10% 8%
10-20University of Chicago Public Policy8-236-111-838-51 0% 5%
RankProgramRegres QualitySurvey QualityStudent OutcomesDiversityMinority StudentsMinority Faculty
13-21University of Maryland-College Park Policy Studies5-1810-178-2834-44 4% 14%
11-22University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public Policy4-219-173-1035-48 0% 10%
12-21University of Pennsylvania Social Welfare24-439-169-258-19 14% 13%
16-25Florida International University Social Welfare25-4121-3312-305-13 31% 17%
16-26University of Georgia Public Administration7-2115-289-3315-29 28% 6%
18-28Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Public Policy (joint program)15-3116-2810-3213-25 24% 4%
18-28Georgia State University Public Policy (joint program)15-3116-2810-3213-25 24% 4%
17-30University of Arizona Management18-3711-2411-2715-31 33% 0%
18-28The University of Texas at Austin Public Policy9-2220-3114-3722-37 29% 7%
19-31Rutgers University-New Brunswick Planning and Public Policy7-2515-2815-3526-37 19% 4%
20-35University of California-Irvine Planning Policy and Design24-3718-314-2725-36 12% 10%
21-37University of Akron Main Campus Public Administration and Urban Studies51-5437-4938-522-4 36% 33%
22-36University of Kentucky Public Administration3-1513-2319-3336-47 7% 0%
24-39Florida International University Public Administration50-5445-5343-531-1 55% 27%
23-39New York University Public Administration7-2414-2851-5424-37 12% 4%

Item Descriptions

Rank
A range indicating how this program ranked in 500 simulated rankings based on your priorities. Programs are sorted by their median rank. Learn more.
NRC regression-based quality measure (Regres Quality)
The NRC's measurements of overall program quality are based on 20 key variables (19 in the humanities) such as GRE scores, student support and faculty publications. To calculate the regression-based quality measure, the relative importance, or weight, of a variable was set by the extent that it correlated with programs viewed most favorably by evaluators in each field. Learn more. Your weight = 3. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
NRC survey-based quality measure (Survey Quality)
The NRC's measurements of overall program quality are based on 20 key variables (19 in the humanities) such as GRE scores, student support and faculty publications. To calculate the survey-based quality measure, evaluators in each field identified the variables that they considered to be the most important indicators of program quality. Learn more. Your weight = 5. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Student support and outcomes (Student Outcomes)
This variable is a composite of other measures of student support and outcomes, including 6-year or 8-year graduation rates (for non-humanities programs and humanities programs, respectively), time to degree, job placement within academia, percentage of first-year students with full financial support, and whether a program collects data about the employment outcomes of its graduates. The relative importance of these variables was determined by the direct assessments of some 50 faculty in each field. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Diversity in the academic environment (Diversity)
This variable shows a composite measure of diversity generated by the National Research Council. It includes data on percent of faculty and students from underrepresented minorities, percent of female faculty and students, and percent of international faculty and students. The relative importance of these variables was determined by the direct assessments of some 50 faculty in each field. Your weight = 1. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Percentage of minority students (Minority Students)
This measure shows the percentage of non-Asian minority doctoral students based on data from the program questionnaire. Programs reported the race or ethnicity of graduate students enrolled in fall 2005. This variable is calculated as the number of students listed as non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, or American Indians or Alaska Natives, divided by the total number of students whose whose race or ethnicity was specified. Students whose race or ethnicity was unspecified were excluded from the calculation. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Percentage of minority faculty (Minority Faculty)
This variable reports the percentage of faculty members who are non-Asian minorities based on data from a 2006 program questionnaire. The value was calculated as the number of faculty listed as non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, or American Indians or Alaska Natives, divided by the total number of faculty with specified race or ethnicity. Faculty members with unspecified race or ethnicity were excluded from the calculation. The calculation did not consider faculty allocations. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)

Data Sources

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
IPEDS is an annual, comprehensive set of surveys of all colleges and universities in the United States. The surveys are conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.   Learn more
National Research Council
The National Research Council conducts periodic assessments of doctoral programs in the United States. Our data comes from the most recent assessment in 2010.   Learn more
Survey of Earned Doctorates
The NSF/NIH/NEH/USED/USDA/NASA Survey of Earned Doctorates is an annual survey of all new recipients of doctorates from US universities at graduation. The average of the response rates for the 2000–2004 surveys was 92%.   Learn more
Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering
The Survey is an annual assessment of the number and characteristics of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in science, engineering, and health-related fields It is conducted by the National Science Foundation.   Learn more
* Value is missing. The value shown is based on the average for other programs in the same field. Learn more.

The graduate school rankings on PhDs.org have been made possible by grants from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and The Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
The National Postdoctoral Association and The Center for Science and the Media have served as the project's fiscal sponsors.