Syracuse University’s Maxwell School named No. 1 in ranking of public affairs programs from U.S. News & World Report

Syracuse University’s Maxwell School named No. 1 in ranking of public affairs programs from U.S. News & World Report March 30, 2001Jonathan Hayjhay@syr.edu

The Maxwell School of Syracuse University and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government are tied for the honor of the nation’s top graduate program for public affairs in the latest U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings, and The Maxwell School is ranked among the top 10 schools in all eight public affairs specialties it offers.

The rankings appear in the magazine’s April 9 “America’s Best Graduate Schools” issue-available on newsstands April 2-and on the U.S. News Web site, www.usnews.com. The “Best Graduate Schools” newsstand book, featuring the current rankings and ratings for academic disciplines that were published previously, will also be available April 2.

The Maxwell School was first in two specialties-public management and administration, and public finance and budgeting-and second in information and technology. Maxwell also placed in the top 10 in five other areas that fall under the umbrella of public affairs: social policy (6th); environmental policy (6th); city management and urban policy (tied for 7th); public policy analysis (8th); and nonprofit management (10th).

“I am so very proud and impressed that Syracuse University continues to be the leader in public affairs education,” says SU Vice Chancellor and Provost Deborah A. Freund. “The Maxwell School has a truly global reputation in this field, and it is a reputation that is well deserved.”

Immediately following The Maxwell School and the Kennedy School in the public affairs rankings are Indiana University, Princeton University, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Georgia.

In its first ranking of public administration programs in 1995, U.S. News put Maxwell at the top. Also, in 1998, U.S. News named Maxwell the nation’s top graduate school in public affairs-the first time the magazine broadened its criteria from public administration to the field of public affairs.

“Needless to say, we’re delighted to once again be ranked number one in the U.S. News ratings of graduate schools of public affairs,” says Maxwell Dean John L. Palmer. “While this year we share the position with Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, our overall score remains as high as in the last rating, in 1998. Our continued standing at the top of the field represents an extraordinary achievement, given the limited resources for our graduate public affairs mission compared to our closest competitors, and is a testimony to the exceptional quality and dedication of the Maxwell faculty who are responsible for our public affairs-related activities.”

The U.S. News magazine and Web site feature new graduate rankings in business, education, engineering, law, medicine, public affairs, clinical psychology and occupational therapy. U.S. News also has new rankings for Ph.D. programs in economics, English, history, political science, psychology and sociology.

The “Best Graduate Schools” book features previous rankings from several SU schools and colleges. The School of Information Studies is tied for No. 3 among the 48 American Library Association-accredited master’s degree programs and ranks No. 2 and No. 10, respectively, in the library science specialties of information systems and school library media. The School of Education’s speech pathology and rehabilitation counseling programs are tied for No. 18 in their respective categories. The School of Social Work is ranked 36th overall among graduate programs in social work.

The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications is ranked as the top graduate school for radio/television studies. The Newhouse School’s public relations program is ranked No. 3 and its advertising and print journalism programs are ranked among the top 15 in the country.

SU’s fine arts program is ranked 26th overall; in individual “fine arts” categories, SU places 7th in ceramics, 11th in photography and 12th in sculpture. The Creative Writing Program in The College of Arts and Sciences is tied for 20th among graduate writing programs. The School of Architecture is ranked 16th overall. Also listed are College of Visual and Performing Arts programs in film (tied for 17th), drama (tied for 37th) and music (tied for 73rd).

To compile the public affairs rankings, U.S. News drew upon the expertise of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration to identify a pool of 259 programs that encompass the field.

Two questionnaires were sent to each program: one to the dean or department chair and one to an associate dean or senior faculty member who had extensive knowledge of public affairs programs.

These individuals were asked to rate institutions based on their public affairs program’s reputation for scholarship and curriculum, and the quality of their faculty and graduates. A point scale was used: five points for a school considered “distinguished”; four points for “strong”; three points for “good”; two points for “adequate”; and one point for “marginal.” Respondents were asked to check a “don’t know” box, which had no point total, for schools with which they weren’t familiar.

Scores for each school were totaled and divided by the number of respondents who rated that school one through five. Schools were ranked in descending order based on their average scores, with the highest possible score being 5.0.

The Maxwell School scored a 4.5. The response rate for the questionnaire was 46 percent.