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Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

The National Research Council assessed programs according to 21 different criteria. Here are the NRC's five major ratings summarizing those criteria. For a detailed explanation, see our FAQ.

S-Rank: Programs are ranked highly if they are strong in the criteria that scholars say are most important.
Research: Derived from faculty publications, citation rates, grants, and awards.
Students: Derived from students' completion rates, financial aid, and other criteria.
Diversity: Reflects gender balance, ethnic diversity, and the proportion of international students.
R-Rank: Programs are ranked highly if they have similar features to programs viewed by faculty as top-notch.

Institution, program	S-Rank High	S-Rank Low	Research High	Research Low	Students High	Students Low	Diversity High	Diversity Low	R-Rank High	R-Rank Low
American U. Public Administration	31	43	24	35	31	50	5	14	16	39
Arizona State U. Public Administration	39	49	34	45	24	36	36	47	13	30
Carnegie Mellon U. H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management	2	5	2	3	18	33	23	36	4	16
Cleveland State U. Urban Affairs and Public Policy	32	41	35	47	25	36	8	17	30	45
Florida Atlantic U. Public Administration	44	53	49	54	16	29	26	37	25	41
Florida Inter- national U. Public Administration	44	53	50	54	46	54	1	1	25	49
Florida Inter- national U. Social Welfare	17	31	21	31	14	32	5	13	30	49
Florida State U. Public Administration and Policy	25	41	20	31	21	47	18	32	8	25
George Washing- ton U. Public Policy and Administration	18	33	12	26	28	44	37	48	7	20
Georgia Institute of Technology Public Policy	7	18	14	35	2	9	2	4	7	23
Georgia State U. and Georgia Institute of Technology Public Policy	12	25	13	24	8	28	13	25	15	35
Harvard U. KSG Public Policy	4	7	4	8	2	9	42	51	11	29
Indiana U. at Blooming- ton Public Affairs	11	24	17	31	14	32	13	24	1	4
Indiana U. at Blooming- ton Public Policy	2	5	4	10	4	13	21	34	4	13
Johns Hopkins U. Health Policy and Management	1	3	1	3	32	45	11	22	31	52
Mississippi State U. Public Policy and Administration	41	53	41	49	2	14	12	29	38	53
New York U. Public Administration	13	29	7	20	51	54	24	37	8	23
North Carolina State U. Public Administration	31	41	50	53	1	2	43	52	17	33
North- eastern U. Public & International Affairs	43	52	40	49	18	38	39	51	26	40
North- eastern U. Law Policy and Society	39	48	34	46	35	48	23	37	26	48
Ohio State U. Main Campus Public Policy and Management	27	44	17	32	26	50	36	47	22	42
Old Dominion U. Public Administration and Urban Policy	48	54	43	49	43	54	14	28	29	50
Pennsyl- vania State U. Public Administration	46	54	50	53	31	48	47	52	33	48
Princeton U. Woodrow Wilson School	1	2	1	2	4	13	39	48	1	3
Rutgers U. at New Brunswick Planning and Public Policy	15	31	12	25	19	36	26	37	20	35
State U. of New York at Albany Public Administration and Policy	13	24	14	25	42	51	20	33	11	25
Syracuse U. Main Campus Public Administration	4	7	4	10	2	9	6	15	4	16
U. of Akron Public Administration and Urban Studies	38	49	35	47	35	52	2	4	53	54
U. of Arizona Management	14	34	7	18	33	49	15	31	15	39
U. of Arkansas Main Campus Public Policy	35	44	32	42	16	38	10	22	36	51
U. of California at Irvine Planning Policy and Design	22	36	31	40	4	28	25	36	14	30
U. of California at Irvine Social Ecology	20	37	17	31	35	51	4	10	20	42
U. of Central Florida Public Affairs	17	32	18	30	6	18	49	54	11	26
U. of Chicago Public Policy	6	10	8	14	1	10	38	51	8	23
U. of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center Public Affairs	45	53	36	48	37	47	35	45	33	46
U. of Delaware Urban Affairs & Public Policy	22	35	33	48	9	24	3	5	12	31
U. of Georgia Public Administration	15	30	15	30	13	37	15	29	4	12
U. of Illinois at Chicago Public Administration	17	29	10	17	32	50	19	35	28	46
U. of Kentucky Public Administration	9	18	10	21	12	24	36	47	4	11
U. of Louisville Urban & Public Affairs	30	39	33	45	15	26	39	49	33	48
U. of Maryland at College Park Policy Studies	9	17	12	22	7	24	34	44	3	10
U. of Maryland- Baltimore County Public Policy	22	35	27	36	25	37	17	30	39	52
U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor Public Policy	6	10	4	10	12	32	4	11	23	49
U. of Missouri at Kansas City Public Affairs & Administration	36	46	33	42	35	49	50	54	32	50
U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public Policy	9	18	15	32	2	10	35	48	7	25
U. of Pennsyl- vania Business & Public Policy	10	21	4	11	15	32	52	54	6	19
U. of Pennsyl- vania Social Welfare	8	14	5	12	10	25	8	19	34	51
U. of Southern California Policy, Planning & Development	11	22	13	24	30	40	9	19	1	4
U. of Texas at Austin Public Policy	22	33	25	32	15	36	21	37	13	28
U. of Texas at Dallas Public Affairs	45	54	52	54	12	30	7	18	50	54
U. of Texas at Dallas Public Policy and Political Economy	19	30	37	46	5	17	19	32	32	52
Virginia Common- wealth U. Public Policy and Administration	38	48	40	49	44	51	5	14	43	53
Virginia Tech Public Administration/ Public Affairs	32	43	30	41	37	51	30	39	23	37
Western Michigan U. Public Administration	45	54	39	49	50	54	47	53	44	53
Methodology: This interactive tool is based on rankings developed by the NRC. For a complete explanation of the methods the research council used, go to its site; registration may be required.