HU Rises In National Graduate School Rankings

“It is an honor to be recognized among our peers through U.S. News and World Report’s annual graduate school rankings,” said President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “The increased scores can be directly attributed to the hard work of our faculty and leadership combined with the commitment to success of our talented students. More importantly, our student outcomes with improving graduation rates, managing student debt levels, improving customer service and job placements are what we remain most inspired by.”

Contributed by Alonda Thomas of the Howard Newsroom

WASHINGTON (March 12, 2019) — Howard University’s graduate programs in social work, business, education, and law increased in the annual national rankings released today by U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 “Best Graduate Schools” listing. The School of Social Work is ranked No. 25, the School of Business is ranked No. 67, The School of Education is ranked No. 93 and the School of Law is ranked No. 108.

“It is an honor to be recognized among our peers through U.S. News and World Report’s annual graduate school rankings,” said President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “The increased scores can be directly attributed to the hard work of our faculty and leadership combined with the commitment to success of our talented students. More importantly, our student outcomes with improving graduation rates, managing student debt levels, improving customer service and job placements are what we remain most inspired by.”


The Howard University School of Social Work ranked No. 25, up five spots from last year. Dean Sandra E. Crewe, Ph.D., credits the school’s new dual degrees with business, public health, and divinity, for adding value to the program, along with other inter-professional education collaborations such as behavioral health.

“The School of Social Work is excited about being ranked as 25 among our fellow programs. The increase in rank from 30 to 25 reflects the dedication, commitment and productivity of our entire team of faculty, staff, students, alumni and the entire university community,” said Crewe. “We have consistently been ranked as one of the top schools of social work because of our Howard brand that embraces social justice. As dean, I have benefitted from the foundation of excellence laid by previous deans as well as current administrators in our school and the university. Because March is Social Work Month, and the theme is ‘elevate social work,’ the timing could not be better for this announcement.”

Among the listing’s top MBA programs, the Howard University School of Business rose to No. 67, up 11 places from last year. The School of Business and its award-winning programs were the first AACSB international accreditation business school in Washington, D.C. The MBA program was recently ranked No. 38 on Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2018 Global Business School list.

“The School of Business continues its upward quest of excellence and improvement. We very happy with our improvements in our ranking,” said Dean Barron H. Harvey, Ph.D., CPA.

The graduate program of Howard University School of Education (HUSOE) broke the Top 100 with a rank of No. 93, up 12 places from last year’s ratings. HUSOE is a CAEP-accredited provider which features the opportunity to travel abroad for global education experiences, engagement with the Urban Superintendent Academy, and a Ph.D. program in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies.

“I believe that our ranking as 93 of Graduate Schools of Education in the U.S. News & World Report is attributed to our strong academic programs and the special partnerships that we enjoy with the larger educational community,” said Dean Dawn Williams, Ph.D. “Being ranked among the top 100 demonstrates the outstanding quality of our faculty, staff, and students. The significant increase particularly in the areas of expert opinion and peer assessment speaks to the extraordinary service and contributions that our graduates are making in the areas of teaching, leadership, counseling and psychological services in diverse communities.”

The Howard University School of Law (HUSL) leaped 20 points to a rank of No. 108 on the US News list. The school was also recently ranked as the No. 21 best law school in the country on the National Law Journallist of “Go-To Law Schools” for placing graduates at the Top 100 law firms in the country, and No. 2 out of the Top 100 Law Degree Producers for African-Americans by Diverse Issues in Higher Education. HUSL has been educating legal scholars for 150 years and boasts such notable alumni as former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Legal trailblazer Pauli Murray, and former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

“While we know that the accomplishments of Howard Law are not defined by the US News Rankings, it is gratifying to see our strategic initiatives being recognized by our climb in the rankings. The faculty, staff, alumni and students of the law school are committed to seeing a rise in our admissions credentials, bar passage rate, scholarly production, and alumni giving. Our significant progress in those important areas is the reason we see our highest ever ranking in US News and we are committed to carrying this momentum forward,” said Dean Danielle Holley-Walker, JD.

In September, U.S. News & World Reportannounced that Howard University climbed 21 spots to No. 89 in the 2019 rankings of the nation’s best universities, as evaluated on 16 measures of academic quality, including first-year student retention, graduation rates, strength of the faculty and alumni giving.

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.