The School of Public Affairs (SPA) at American University is in the top 5% of graduate public affairs schools nationally, according to the 2025 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Public Affairs Graduate Schools rankings. With an overall ranking of No. 13, SPA is also the highest ranked school in Washington, D.C. This marks the fourth year in a row that the school has held this distinction.

The school also received special recognition in several specialty areas, with three earning recognition among the top five programs nationwide. Specialty areas include: No. 4 for Public Management & Leadership (the highest ranked program of its kind in Washington, DC); No. 4 for Nonprofit Management (up two places from last year and also the highest program of its kind in DC); No. 5 for International Policy & Global Administration (up one place from last year); No. 12 in in Public Policy Analysis (up three places from last year); No. 13 in Public Financing & Budgeting (up seven places from last year); and No. 22 in Urban Policy.

“We are pleased to receive this recognition from U.S. News,” said SPA Interim Dean Alison Jacknowitz. “It is especially gratifying that our peers recognized the depth and breadth of our school’s expertise across many disciplines within public affairs, including three that ranked in the top 5. This is due to the effort of our talented faculty to drive forward the evolution of their fields through research while they also prepare our students to serve their communities.”

The U.S. News & World Report rankings are compiled through peer assessment surveys. Deans, directors, and department chairs representing 285 master’s programs in public affairs and administration were surveyed in fall 2023. Respondents were asked to rate the academic quality of a master’s program on a scale of marginal to outstanding. Rankings of specialty areas are based on ratings by educators at peer schools.