Rankings by major · 211 schools scored

Best colleges for public policy & social work

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for public policy & social work. The score blends how graduates in the major do four years out against the national norm for the same major, the strength of the student body, how many undergraduate courses the department lists, and the size of the program. Small programs (under five graduates a year) are capped. 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top public policy & social work schools: Duke University, Princeton University, Northwestern University.

Top 100 colleges for public policy & social work
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	Duke University Durham, NC	98	Standout	144	7.8%	1.40×	5%
2	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	97	Standout	114	9.1%	1.46×	4%
3	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	96	Standout	116	5.6%	1.46×	7%
3	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	96	Standout	90	5.2%	1.28×	4%
5	Rice University Houston, TX	90	Standout	31	3%	–	8%
6	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	88	Standout	44	1.2%	1.72×	9%
6	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	88	Standout	28	1.6%	1.24×	6%
8	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	86	Standout	131	3.8%	1.35×	46%
8	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	86	Standout	84	1.9%	1.78×	17%
10	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	85	Standout	101	11.8%	1.03×	40%
10	Barnard College New York, NY	85	Standout	25	3.4%	–	9%
12	University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	84	Standout	157	3.2%	1.01×	17%
12	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	84	Standout	20	4.1%	–	14%
12	Stanford University Stanford, CA	84	Standout	16	1%	–	4%
15	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	83	Standout	111	1.2%	–	9%
15	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	83	Standout	108	1.3%	–	45%
15	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	83	Standout	17	0.6%	–	5%
15	Brown University Providence, RI	83	Standout	15	0.9%	1.29×	5%
19	Indiana University–Bloomington Bloomington, IN	82	Standout	420	5.8%	1.19×	78%
19	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	82	Standout	84	0.8%	1.16×	27%
19	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	82	Standout	81	0.9%	1.30×	11%
19	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	82	Standout	40	2.1%	–	48%
19	Trinity College Hartford, CT	82	Standout	39	7.5%	1.12×	30%
19	New York University New York, NY	82	Standout	32	0.5%	1.15×	9%
19	Pomona College Claremont, CA	82	Standout	15	4.1%	–	7%
26	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	80	Standout	114	2.1%	1.15×	87%
26	University of Washington Seattle, WA	80	Standout	53	0.6%	1.14×	39%
28	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	79	Strong	77	1%	1.00×	16%
28	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	79	Strong	23	3%	–	18%
30	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	78	Strong	41	0.8%	1.01×	10%
30	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	78	Strong	35	0.9%	–	13%
32	University of Delaware Newark, DE	77	Strong	102	2.3%	1.04×	71%
32	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	77	Strong	87	1%	1.10×	42%
32	University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	77	Strong	84	3.1%	1.13×	72%
32	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	77	Strong	70	0.9%	1.05×	45%
32	Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA	77	Strong	29	4.5%	–	40%
37	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	76	Strong	95	1.1%	1.08×	58%
38	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	75	Strong	75	1.8%	1.07×	93%
38	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	75	Strong	48	3%	0.94×	34%
38	University of Denver Denver, CO	75	Strong	17	1.3%	–	85%
41	Stony Brook University–SUNY Stony Brook, NY	74	Strong	69	1.5%	1.15×	49%
42	Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY	73	Strong	16	2.8%	1.19×	24%
43	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	72	Strong	283	2.5%	0.95×	51%
43	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	72	Strong	31	0.7%	1.08×	59%
43	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	72	Strong	29	1.9%	1.09×	75%
46	Rutgers University–Newark Newark, NJ	71	Strong	120	5.1%	1.09×	71%
46	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	71	Strong	76	0.9%	1.03×	85%
46	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	71	Strong	43	0.5%	1.13×	44%
46	Baylor University Waco, TX	71	Strong	34	1%	1.13×	52%
46	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	71	Strong	24	1%	1.27×	48%
46	Creighton University Omaha, NE	71	Strong	18	1.5%	1.19×	92%
52	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	70	Strong	175	4.4%	1.07×	88%
52	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	70	Strong	46	0.7%	1.03×	42%
52	University of New Hampshire Durham, NH	70	Strong	46	1.7%	1.12×	88%
55	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	69	Strong	88	1.7%	0.99×	93%
56	Wayne State University Detroit, MI	68	Strong	105	2.7%	1.08×	81%
56	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA	68	Strong	98	2%	1.07×	84%
56	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	68	Strong	56	1.2%	1.05×	77%
56	St. Olaf College Northfield, MN	68	Strong	19	2.7%	0.98×	43%
60	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND	67	Strong	76	4.1%	1.08×	83%
60	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	67	Strong	38	0.8%	1.01×	80%
62	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	66	Strong	46	0.9%	0.87×	54%
62	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI	66	Strong	22	1.1%	–	87%
64	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	65	Strong	290	1.9%	1.03×	88%
64	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	65	Strong	73	1.4%	1.06×	89%
64	University of Georgia Athens, GA	65	Strong	39	0.5%	0.94×	38%
64	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	65	Strong	27	1.1%	1.05×	73%
68	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	64	Solid	94	1.8%	0.94×	42%
68	University at Albany–SUNY Albany, NY	64	Solid	56	1.9%	1.15×	69%
68	University of St. Thomas (MN) St. Paul, MN	64	Solid	25	1.6%	–	85%
68	Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA	64	Solid	21	1.5%	–	84%
72	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	63	Solid	97	1.6%	1.07×	87%
72	University of Nevada–Reno Reno, NV	63	Solid	84	2.2%	1.16×	83%
72	University of Missouri Columbia, MO	63	Solid	39	0.8%	1.08×	78%
72	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	63	Solid	27	0.5%	–	77%
76	Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL	62	Solid	63	1.9%	1.14×	75%
77	University of Louisville Louisville, KY	61	Solid	62	2.1%	1.05×	79%
77	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	61	Solid	54	0.7%	0.90×	55%
77	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI	61	Solid	51	1.5%	1.12×	87%
77	Auburn University Auburn, AL	61	Solid	25	0.4%	0.98×	46%
77	University of Scranton Scranton, PA	61	Solid	22	2.6%	1.07×	80%
82	University of Mississippi Oxford, MS	60	Solid	135	3.4%	0.97×	97%
82	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	60	Solid	46	0.6%	1.00×	86%
82	University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL	60	Solid	39	1.4%	0.92×	94%
82	Elon University Elon, NC	60	Solid	23	1.5%	1.23×	66%
82	Seattle University Seattle, WA	60	Solid	22	1.7%	1.11×	77%
82	Gallaudet University Washington, DC	60	Solid	14	6.3%	–	58%
82	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	60	Solid	14	0.2%	–	78%
82	George Washington University Washington, DC	60	Solid	13	0.4%	1.34×	47%
82	Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA	60	Solid	12	3.6%	–	9%
82	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	60	Solid	9	0.4%	–	11%
82	Northeastern University Boston, MA	60	Solid	8	0.2%	1.26×	5%
82	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	60	Solid	8	1%	1.26×	83%
82	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	60	Solid	6	0.4%	–	11%
82	Villanova University Villanova, PA	60	Solid	6	0.3%	–	28%
96	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	59	Solid	52	0.9%	1.05×	86%
96	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS	59	Solid	37	1%	0.97×	87%
96	Hope College Holland, MI	59	Solid	22	3.1%	0.96×	79%
96	Simmons University Boston, MA	59	Solid	22	5.3%	1.22×	70%
100	University of Nevada–Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV	58	Solid	134	2.9%	1.17×	96%

111 more schools are on the full public policy & social work ranking.

See your odds of getting in · All rankings by major · Overall ranking

Best colleges for public policy & social work

Rankings for other majors