Several programs at the University of Georgia moved up significantly in U.S. News & World Report’s latest national ranking of best graduate schools.
The rankings are in the 2019 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools guidebook, which was released March 20.
The largest upward movement was by the School of Social Work’s MSW program. It leaped 14 places to No. 24 among institutions that offer a master’s degree in social work.
The school is one of three social work graduate programs in the Southeast and the only one in Georgia to be ranked among the top 25 social work programs. The others are at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which was ranked fifth, and the University of Maryland, which was No. 17.
“This rise in ranking is reflective of our school’s energy and drive to excellence,” said Anna Scheyett, dean of the School of Social Work. “Our productive researchers, dedicated instructors and school-wide commitment to social justice make us a truly up-and-coming school of social work.”
On the best business schools lists, the Full-Time MBA Program at the UGA Terry College of Business rose eight spots to No. 40 and climbed to 19th among public institutions. It was the largest gain of any business school that was ranked in the top 50 last year by U.S. News.
“Our improvement in the most closely watched MBA ranking reflects outstanding employment outcomes that align with our graduates’ career goals,” said Terry College Dean Benjamin C. Ayers. “It further affirms the innovations we have introduced to our curriculum and certainly is supported by the fact that our facilities in the new Business Learning Community are second to none. I am very pleased to see the hard work of our faculty, staff and students recognized.”
Last year, 93 percent of Georgia’s Full-Time MBA graduates were employed within three months of graduation, which matched a record for the program, and graduates reported to U.S. News an average starting salary and bonus of more than $100,000. The 93 percent employment rate ranked 17th overall among business schools ranked in the top 50, according to U.S. News.
Terry College’s Professional MBA Program maintained its top 50 placement at No. 44 overall in U.S. News’ part-time MBA ranking, and among public business schools it ranked 25th. For its academic reputation among peers, Terry’s Professional MBA program ranked 29th overall and 18th among public business schools.
Graduate programs in higher education administration offered by the Institute of Higher Education at UGA were ranked among the top five in the nation.
IHE offers the Ph.D., Ed.D. and M.Ed. degrees, and its graduate programs in higher education administration have ranked among the top 10 in the nation for more than a decade. In the latest ranking, the programs were tied for fifth place with those at Indiana University-Bloomington. UGA and Vanderbilt (ranked eighth) are the only Southern schools among the top 15 programs.
“The top 15 ranked schools include prestigious institutions, both public and private,” said IHE Director Libby V. Morris. “The fact that we climbed two spots in the rankings this year is a reflection of the quality of our faculty and programs at the institute and the work we do collectively to explore critical issues in higher education and prepare future leaders. Recent graduates are climbing the ranks of the professoriate ladder, while other alumni are working in senior leadership positions across post-secondary education.”
Programs in two other schools and two additional colleges at UGA also were included the Best Graduate Schools guidebook.
The School of Law was ranked No. 32 among law schools and ranked No. 15 for international law.
The School of Public and International Affairs was ranked No. 6 among public affairs graduate programs with specialty rankings in public management and leadership (2), public finance and budgeting (3), local government management (11), nonprofit management (14) and public policy analysis (15).
In the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, programs ranking within the top 50 graduate programs are biological sciences (46), clinical psychology (36), fine arts (48), printmaking (7), history (44) and sociology (47).
The College of Education was ranked 37th for graduate programs, with specialty rankings in student counseling and personnel services (2), secondary teacher education (4), elementary education (8) and curriculum and instruction (9).