April 2004

It’s college rankings season, and once again, AU has placed highly in U.S. News & World Report’s survey of America’s best graduate programs, and in the Princeton Review.

The School of Public Affairs (SPA) was tapped by U.S. News & World Report as 10th in the nation among similar programs, while Washington College of Law (WCL) ranks second in the nation for clinical training and sixth for international law.

A vigorous showing in a number of specialties contributed to both schools’ successes in the influential rankings, which are published in the magazine and on its Web site. SPA’s top-10 position was bolstered by its well-regarded programs in criminal justice policy and management (third in the nation) and public management administration (eighth). SPA also ranked in the top 25 for public policy analysis and social policy.

“We are all very pleased that the School of Public Affairs and its individual programs are held in such high regard by our peers,” said SPA dean William LeoGrande. “We have made significant strides in recent years, building the quality of our programs, attracting exceptional faculty, and recruiting an increasingly talented student body. This national recognition is a measure of our success, and the credit for it belongs to the faculty and staff who continue to do a fantastic job delivering the best public policy programs in the nation’s capital.”

The law school also continued its strong annual presence in the U.S. News ranking. The clinical training program, sometimes described as “the law firm inside the law school,” continues to be among the most highly regarded programs of its type in the nation, regularly jostling for position in the top five of the U.S. News rankings with clinical programs at Yale, Georgetown, and NYU.

International law also continues to be a powerhouse program at WCL, sixth on a list that puts Yale, Harvard, and Georgetown slightly ahead of AU – and UVA, Berkeley, and GW slightly below.

Institutions near the nation’s capital were strongly represented in the public affairs rankings, with AU and GW tied for 10th place and leading among Washington-area universities, followed by Georgetown (17th), and the University of Maryland (21st). The number one spot went to Syracuse University, followed by Harvard.

The law school is 56th in the overall rankings. Georgetown qualifies as the top Washington-area law school (14th). However, AU has a higher acceptance rate than several local schools, accepting 20 percent of applicants in contrast to Georgetown, which accepts around 17 percent.

The Princeton Review’s recent release of schools that offer the best “bang for the buck,” included AU as the only Washington-area school to make the grade. The just-released list of 77 schools doesn’t just look at each college’s price tag, but for schools that offer a “fabulous education” at a “reasonable price.” That’s assessed partly by looking at the quality of students and faculty, and partly by less tangible features, including comments from undergraduates who gave the unvarnished scoop about student life.

AU’s students informed the Princeton Review that they’re “extremely politically involved.” One student described AU as home to “lots of diplomats’ kids.” But others balked at the request to characterize the student body, saying, “This school is way too diverse to pinpoint the typical student.”

For the most part, AU students characterized their peers as “idealistic, smart, concerned . . . [and] interested in community service,” noting that the international population and many students interested in international relations “makes political science classes quite invigorating.”

The “very best value,” according to the Princeton Review, is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Some other schools on the list included the University of Virginia and the University of Texas.

AU is also considered by the Princeton Review to have the sixth best “college town.” (Number one on the list is NYU, while the second is New Orleans–based Tulane.) AU ranks as the nation’s 12th “most politically active” college.

-By Sally Acharya, excerpted from American Weekly, April 6 and April 13, 2004 issues.

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