Exceptional year for BC graduate programs in U.S. News rankings

Boston College graduate programs experienced strong gains across the board in the latest U.S. News Graduate School rankings, released April 8.

The Connell School of Nursing, the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College Law School, the Carroll School of Management, and a number of academic departments within the Morrissey College of Arts and Science all saw significant improvements in the rankings this year, reflecting Boston College’s academic strength and reputation among the nation’s best universities.  

The Connell School rose to 14th in the survey of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs, a 12-place increase over last year’s ranking. The Master of Science in Nursing program also improved to 26th, an increase of eight places over last year.  In the nursing specialty rankings, Connell’s Nursing Anesthesia program improved to 26th overall.

The Lynch School improved to 20th overall this year, a three-spot increase over last year’s rankings. The school also had strong placements among specialty programs, with Student Counseling ranked ninth, Curriculum and Instruction ranked 13th, Elementary Education ranked 16th, and both Education Psychology and Education Policy ranked 20th.

BC Law rose to 25th in the law school rankings, also a three-place improvement over last year. The Law School also performed well in the specialty rankings, placing 12th overall in Tax Law, 18th in the “Law Schools with the Most Grads at Big Law Firms” category, 29th in International Law, 31st in Intellectual Property Law, and 34th in Health Care Law.   

In the Carroll School, the Part-Time MBA program rose six spots to 17th, while the Full-Time MBA retained its rank of 46th.

Among business specialty programs, Accounting and Finance both placed ninth, Marketing 12th, Business Analytics 13th, and Management 37th.

In the Morrissey College, Economics ranked 29th, Sociology 42nd, English 44th, History 47th, Psychology 55th, and Political Science 62nd among specialty programs.

With U.S. News shifting its ranking of social work schools to every four years, the BC School of Social Work retained its previous ranking of eighth overall, the highest among BC’s graduate programs. 

According to U.S. News, the graduate school rankings are based on expert opinion about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research, and students.

In March, the Clough School of Theology and Ministry and the Theology Department in the Morrissey College placed 13th worldwide in the London-based QS Global Rankings of schools of theology, divinity, and religious studies.  

 “While no single ranking will ever capture the vibrancy and quality of our many degree programs, this year’s set of assessments underscore the powerful momentum that we’ve been building across Boston College’s nine schools and colleges,” said BC Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “I am pleased to see this growing recognition of our excellent faculty and programs by peers at the nation’s great universities.”