US News & World Report ranks ASU's School of Public Affairs graduate programs in top 10 nationally

The School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University ranked No. 9 overall in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report graduate program rankings, released late Monday night. Eight specializations earned top 10 spots, with two more offerings listed in the top 20.

The school’s overall graduate program is up two spots from last year’s ranking and four spots since 2024. In this year’s rankings, it was ahead of the American University, Georgetown University and Ohio State University.

The public affairs graduate program is always highly rated due to its mix of quality, affordability and accessibility, said Professor Shannon Portillo, the school’s director and the Lattie and Elva Coor Presidential Chair.

“We are among the lowest-cost Master of Public Administration programs in the country, and we’re a top 10 program,” Portillo said. “We have both amazing tenure-track faculty who are world-renowned researchers, as well as professors of practice and career-track faculty who come from extensive, storied careers in public service.”

The school’s popular online degrees are taught by the same high-quality faculty, Portillo said.

The school is also working to make its graduate degrees more accessible to disciplines outside the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. It has outlined the requirements for 90 different undergraduate degrees across ASU to feed into an accelerated Master of Public Administration or Master of Public Policy. The accelerated program allows for a more interdisciplinary approach to public service, Portillo said.

The school’s local government management specialization was rated the best program in the country, ahead of Indiana University, Syracuse University and Harvard. A year ago, it ranked third. Portillo said the school achieved that top spot by creating the Center for Local Government Education and Innovation, developing new partnerships and growing professional opportunities for students, all while retaining high-quality course offerings and faculty.

Community partnerships help the school offer 25 fully funded local government positions through the Marvin Andrews and Jane Morris Local Government Fellowship, as well as new fellowships in rural and Indigenous governments and elections administration, Portillo said.

The school’s graduate offerings in homeland security and emergency management and in information and technology management both ranked No. 2 in the 2026 listings, ahead of the University of Southern California, George Washington University and Georgetown and ahead of Syracuse and the University at Albany, respectively. 

Public financing and budgeting made the biggest leap from previous rankings, moving up seven spots to No. 9, ahead of Harvard, Ohio State and the University of California, Berkeley. Portillo said new faculty hires in the area, as well as new partnerships, including with the Government Finance Officers Association, enhanced the quality of the school’s budgeting education.

The 10 specialties to earn top 20 spots in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report graduate rankings are:

• Local government management, No. 1 (previously No. 3)
• Homeland security and emergency management, No. 2 (no change from the previous ranking)
• Information and technology management, No. 2 (previously No. 3)
• Nonprofit management, No. 3 (previously No. 5), ahead of Syracuse, the University of Washington and Harvard
• Public management and leadership, No. 5 (no change), ahead of Harvard, USC and the University of Michigan
• Environmental policy and management, No. 6 (previously No. 10), ahead of Harvard, Princeton and Syracuse
• Urban policy, No. 6 (previously No. 9), ahead of Harvard, Syracuse and UC Berkeley
• Public finance and budgeting, No. 9 (previously No. 16), ahead of Harvard, Ohio State and UC Berkeley
• Public policy analysis, No. 13 (previously No. 17), ahead of Washington, USC and the University of Georgia
• Social policy, No. 15 (not ranked previously), ahead of the American University, Georgetown and Ohio State

This is not the first time Watts College degrees have received high marks in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. In January, the online master's degree in criminal justice from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice earned a No. 10 ranking. The program also earned top marks in the U.S. News’ Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice for Veterans category. The School of Social Work ranked No. 20 in the nation in 2024, the last time the category was rated.