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U.S.News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 1, 2004 MAXWELL SCHOOL AGAIN NAMED #1 GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS BY U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
For the fourth consecutive time, the Maxwell School of Syracuse University sits atop the U.S. News and World Report’s triennial rankings of graduate schools of public affairs, ahead of such prominent institutions as Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School. Maxwell has held the number-one spot since the rankings category was created in 1995. Maxwell also
ranked number one in the public affairs specialties of public
management/administration, public finance and budgeting, and
nonprofit management. The School was among the top 10
graduate schools for all other public affairs specialties it
offers: public policy analysis, city management/urban
According to Maxwell School Dean Mitchel Wallerstein, the U.S. News rankings, which are based on peer reputation, provide an otherwise elusive measure of the School's overall excellence and esteem. "These rankings tell us much about the primacy we enjoy in the community of public-affairs institutions. The fact that so many colleagues and observers regard us so highly tells us that in many, many ways we are doing things right. "Our #1 ranking is an enormous credit to the quality and hard work of the Maxwell faculty and staff, and to an institution that has been able consistently to set the standard for excellence despite endowment resources that are a mere fraction of those of some other highly regarded schools of public affairs.” At the core of Maxwell’s reputation in public affairs is its master of public administration degree program, which was created more than 70 years ago—the nation’s first such professional program. According to Jeffrey D. Straussman, professor and chair of the public administration department, the values underlying Maxwell’s public affairs programs have remained constant. “We have developed an approach to public affairs—imbedding public service, citizenship, and democratic theory in the professional programs—and we’ve stuck with it,” he says. “Even while we revise our programs to meet the demands of changing times, our core values have remained unchanged.” Maxwell is the only major school whose professional programs in public administration and international relations are integrated with social science departments (political science, history, anthropology, sociology, geography, and economics). According to Dean Wallerstein, Maxwell’s M.P.A. has always featured a rigorous blend of theory, policy, and practice. The juxtaposition of academic and professional programs is built into the Maxwell School, Wallerstein explains. "It's part of our history. And, while it would be foolish to attribute the School's strong reputation to any one factor, I think it's obvious that the way we connect professional and academic programs sets us apart. Anyone who seeks to understand the strength of Maxwell needs to take into account the advantages we draw from this mix of theory, policy, and practice." The U.S. News rankings are based on a survey of more than 250 programs nationwide that confer the M.P.A. (Master of Public Affairs or Master of Public Administration), the M.P.P. (Master of Public Policy), or the M.P.M. (Master of Public Management). The survey emphasized scholarship and curriculum, and the quality of faculty and graduates.
# # # The Maxwell School of Syracuse University, founded in 1924, is the premier academic institution in the United States committed to scholarship, civic leadership, and education in public and international affairs. Maxwell is home to Syracuse University’s social science departments and to numerous nationally recognized multidisciplinary graduate programs in public administration, international studies, social policy, and conflict resolution. Contact: Jill Leonhardt, director of communications, (315) 443-5492; jlleonha@maxwell.syr.edu.
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