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The Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University surged nine places in the latest U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Graduate Schools rankings. Of the 270 schools surveyed, the Schar School rose from No. 48 to No. 39 in the country.
Several Schar School graduate programs landed in the top 25 among all universities, with homeland security leading the list at No. 7 nationally, and No. 6 among public institutions. The Schar School’s homeland security program has made the nation’s top 10 list for five years straight.
The other top 25 programs include public-policy analysis, nonprofit management, public finance, and local government management. The nonprofit management program made a remarkable rise of 14 spots, from No. 32 to No. 18 nationally.
“The Schar School’s interdisciplinary programs increasingly are being recognized as among the best,” said Schar School Dean Mark J. Rozell. “Most notable this year is the big jump in the ranking in nonprofit management studies—the largest one-year move we’ve ever seen. High-impact faculty work and recent exciting hires in that field are being noticed by our peers nationally,” Rozell said.
In addition to a growing and prominent faculty, the Schar School’s location in the heart of the U.S. political scene provides students with extraordinary professional opportunities.
Overall, Mason has eight graduate programs listed among the top 25 nationally, reflecting the university’s reputation of being a top institution for advanced degrees. Mason has 18 programs ranked in the top 50 nationally and 33 ranked in the top 50 among public universities.
Mason is the fastest growing public university in Virginia and has conferred the highest number of master’s degrees of any four-year public institution in the state for the past five years. According to State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, Mason conferred nearly a third of the state’s master’s degrees for the 2020-21 academic year.
Additional reporting by Mariam Aburdeineh.