Campus News

Graduate programs among best in US News rankings

The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business achieved its highest ranking to date in the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking of graduate programs in business. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

Terry College moves up four spots, several programs ranked in top 10

The University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business moved up four spots in the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking of graduate programs in business, making it one of several UGA programs to be recognized among the nation’s best.

In the 2021 edition of Best Graduate Schools rankings, the Master of Business Administration program in the Terry College ranked 33rd among all U.S. universities, moving up from 37th last year to its highest U.S. News graduate ranking to date. The public administration program offered through the School of Public and International Affairs ranked No. 6 in the nation, just behind Harvard University, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Southern California. The higher education administration program offered through UGA’s Institute of Higher Education ranked No. 8 in the nation, holding a top 10 ranking consecutively since 2007.

Several other UGA programs were highly ranked, as well. The UGA College of Pharmacy rose one spot to 24th in the nation, and the School of Law ranked 31st in the nation. The Mary Frances Early College of Education ranked 37th overall, with several programs in the nation’s top 10. The college’s program in counseling and personnel services ranked No. 4, its elementary education program ranked No. 7, its secondary education program ranked No. 9 and its educational psychology program ranked 24th in the nation. The agricultural engineering program offered through the College of Engineering is ranked 18th.

Ron Walcott, interim dean of the Graduate School, noted that over the past several years the Graduate School has introduced new fellowships to help recruit outstanding graduate students to UGA and expanded professional development programming for students to promote career success.

“These national rankings recognize the academic excellence of UGA’s graduate programs,” Walcott said, “and are indicative of the outstanding preparation our graduate students receive to address the complex  grand challenges facing our society today.”

Enhancing research and graduate education at the University of Georgia is a key area of focus of the Task Force on Academic Excellence that the university’s provost, S. Jack Hu, launched in the fall. In the area of graduate education, the task force is exploring mechanisms for supporting the success of graduate students—both through curricular offerings such as interdisciplinary programs as well as through career preparation services—and increasing graduate enrollment.

“Graduate education provides the depth of knowledge that is necessary to address urgent challenges in a broad range of fields,” Hu said. “As part of the University of Georgia’s commitment to serving our students and our world, we are working to enhance our highly ranked graduate programs.”