US News and World Report ranks ASU Law No. 25 best law school in the nation

March 30, 2021

The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University continues to maintain its reputation as a premier law school, placing No. 25 overall in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 best law school rankings. ASU Law has now been ranked in the top 30 for the past seven years and remains the youngest law school in the top 25.

ASU Law is the No. 9 public law school, the No. 5 overall law school in the West and the No. 3 public law school in the West, with six specialty programs ranked in the top 30: legal writing (No. 3), dispute resolution (No. 13), health care law (No. 16), environmental law (No. 20), tax law (No. 28), and criminal law (No. 30). Photo of Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Beus Center for Law and Society The Beus Center for Law and Society is the home of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at ASU in downtown Phoenix. Download Full Image

ASU Law has consistently ranked high in the legal writing category, placing in the top 10 for the past 12 years, with four of those years in the top 5. ASU Law has 10 dedicated legal writing professors, with an additional professor joining in the fall, which allows it to offer its students a research and writing curriculum designed to ensure they are practice-ready as they begin externships, summer jobs and legal careers. This year’s No. 3 ranking is a tribute to their dedication and hard work.

“Over the past decade, ASU Law has transformed from a strong regional law school to a top-ranked national law school,” ASU Law Dean Douglas Sylvester said. “It is gratifying to see that evolution reflected in the rankings, which have placed us between No. 24 and 27 for the past seven years. It is also a tremendous testament to our amazing faculty, students, alumni, donors and the entire ASU Law community. I want to thank them for all that they do to make this such an exceptional place.”

ASU Law’s overall ranking at No. 25 is ahead of George Washington University, Emory University, Boston College, University of California – Irvine, and Fordham University. Its No. 9 public law school ranking is ahead of the University of Iowa, University of Illinois at Urbana, University of California – Irvine, and William and Mary.

For the past several years, ASU Law’s incoming classes have set school records for median LSAT scores and GPAs. The class that entered in fall 2020 continued that tradition, with a median LSAT of 165 and a GPA of 3.83 — topping the marks of 164 and 3.81 from the 2019 incoming class. ASU Law also welcomed its most diverse class ever this year with one-third of the first-year students identifying as students of color.

“We are always looking at ways we can make ASU Law even better, focusing on how we can improve student outcomes and experiences,” Sylvester said. “This fall we are excited to add new intellectual property and technology and antitrust emphasis programs to enrich the student learning experience and advance their career opportunities.”

Julie Tenney

Director of Communications, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law

julie.tenney@asu.edu

US News ranks 14 ASU graduate programs in top 10

Arizona State University has 14 graduate degree programs ranked in the top 10 nationwide, according to new rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.Of the 14 top-ranked degree programs, half are in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. The list was released March 30 after the magazine assessed more than 2,100 degree programs for 2022.U.S. News & World Report pro...

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US News ranks 14 ASU graduate programs in top 10

March 30, 2021

The latest report from US News & World Report shows 33 graduate degree programs at ASU in the top 20

Arizona State University has 14 graduate degree programs ranked in the top 10 nationwide, according to new rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

Of the 14 top-ranked degree programs, half are in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. The list was released March 30 after the magazine assessed more than 2,100 degree programs for 2022.

U.S. News & World Report provides several higher education rankings throughout the year, and last fall rated ASU as the most innovative university in the country for the sixth year in a row.

The highest ranked graduate degree program for 2022 at ASU is the doctorate in criminology and criminal justice, in the Watts College, which tied for second place with the University of California at Irvine and ranked ahead of Penn State and Florida State. Last year, that ASU program ranked fifth.

The other top 10 graduate degree programs at ASU, with last year’s ranking in parentheses, are:

Supply chain, in the W. P. Carey School of Business: No. 3 (3), ahead of Ohio State, Penn State and Stanford University.
Legal writing, in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law: No. 3 (7), ahead of Georgetown University and the University of Michigan.
Information and technology, in the School of Public Affairs in the Watts College: No. 3 (not a ranked category last year), ahead of the University of Southern California.
Local government management, in the School of Public Affairs: No. 3 (3), ahead of Syracuse University and the University of Southern California.
Homeland security, in the School of Public Affairs: No. 3 (3), ahead of Harvard, Columbia and George Washington universities.
Project management, in W. P. Carey: No. 5 (4), ahead of the University of Texas.
Environmental policy, in the School of Public Affairs: tied for No. 5 (8), ahead of Columbia and Harvard universities.
Nonprofit management, in the School of Community Resources and Development: No. 5 (9), ahead of New York University and American University.
Leadership, in the School of Public Affairs: No. 5 (6), ahead of Harvard, the University of Southern California and Ohio State.
Urban policy, in the School of Public Affairs: tied for No. 5 (5), ahead of the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Chicago and Harvard.
Information systems, in W. P. Carey: No. 7 (13), ahead of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Berkeley.
Elementary teacher education, in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College: No. 7 (13), ahead of Ohio State and Stanford.
Business analytics, in W. P. Carey: No. 10 (11), ahead of Duke, Columbia and the University of Michigan.

Overall, 33 graduate degree programs at ASU were in the top 20, including special education and production/operations, both 11th, and accounting and secondary teacher education, both 12th.

“The scholarship and research of our graduate students and faculty in graduate programs across ASU have contributed greatly to the growing national reputation of ASU as a top destination for a high quality graduate education,” said Mark Searle, executive vice president and university provost. “And, the newly released U.S. News & World Report rankings for graduate programs shine a light on the fact that our academic excellence is not siloed in a limited number of academic disciplines, but rather experienced across the university in fields as diverse as social sciences, education, business, arts and engineering.”

U.S. News & World Report also ranked overall graduate schools.

The overall graduate program in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College tied for 11th place with the University of Southern California, and ahead of Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at Berkeley. Among public universities in this category, ASU ranked fourth.

The School of Public Affairs graduate program tied for 13th place with American University, Columbia University, Ohio State University, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Chicago.

The full-time law program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law ranked as the No. 9 public law school, ahead of the University of Georgia, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The program tied for 25th place overall.

The full-time MBA degree program in the W. P. Carey School of Business ranked 30, up from 35 last year, and ahead of Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame. The part-part MBA program tied for 22. Overall, 11 of the 14 graduate degrees programs in W. P. Carey that were ranked were in the top 20.

“We are thrilled to see ASU’s efforts to build outstanding graduate programs for our students recognized nationally because graduate education is critical to ASU’s success,” said Elizabeth Wentz, vice provost and dean of the Graduate College at ASU. “Today’s rankings confirm that our graduate students are learning from top notch faculty, advancing research and the discovery of public value and making a difference In Arizona and around the world.”

The data for the rankings came from statistical surveys of more than 2,100 programs and from surveys sent to more than 23,000 academics and professionals, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The remaining degrees in the top 20 are: special education, No. 11; production/operations, No. 11; accounting, No. 12; secondary teacher education, No. 12; dispute resolution, tied for No. 13; curriculum and instruction, No. 14; educational administration, No. 14; education policy, tied for No. 15; management, tied for No. 16; health care law, tied for No. 16; public finance, No. 16; executive MBA, No. 18; industrial engineering, tied for No. 18; finance, No. 20; international business, tied for No. 20; marketing, tied for No. 20; environmental engineering, tied for No. 20; environmental law, tied for No. 20; public policy analysis, No. 20.