Depending on the job or field, earning a graduate degree may lead to higher earnings, career advancement and specialized skill development.
But with several types of degrees and hundreds of graduate schools, it can be difficult to narrow down the options. To help prospective graduate students find a school that fits their needs, U.S. News released its 2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings today. They evaluate business, education, fine arts, health, law, library studies, nursing, public affairs, science, and social sciences and humanities graduate programs. Medical school and engineering rankings are not being released at this time.
A notable methodology change includes a new salary indicator based on profession in the business rankings.
Additionally, for the first time in four years, there are new rankings for a blend of doctoral and master’s programs in audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, nurse midwifery and speech-language pathology. Graduate programs in nurse anesthesia and social work are also ranked for the first time since 2016 and 2022, respectively. Those and other specialty rankings are based on reputation ratings from scholars at other surveyed schools.
Read each program’s specific methodology for the most detailed explanations of all the changes. The rankings are one source of information among many that prospective college students can use to inform their college decision. Below is a summary of the top-ranked schools in four major graduate program areas:
- Best Law Schools
- Best Business Schools
- Best Nursing Schools
- Best Education Schools
Best Law Schools
Looking beyond the top 10, multiple law schools moved up in the rankings. William & Mary Law School in Virginia, for instance, jumped nine spots from a tie at No. 45 to a five-way tie at No. 36.
U.S. News also ranked 13 law specialties: business/corporate, clinical training, constitutional, contracts/commercial, criminal, dispute resolution, environmental, health care, intellectual property, international, legal writing, tax and trial advocacy. (You can filter by specialty on the main ranking page.)
Best Business Schools
While the top 10 mostly consists of the same schools as last year, both the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business joined those ranks this year. UC Berkeley rose from a three-way tie at No. 11 to a three-way tie at No. 7, while UVA moved up four spots from No. 14 to a tie at No. 10.
Best Nursing Schools
Duke also ranked No. 1 in all of the ranked nursing master’s nursing practice specialties, including administration, family, both acute and primary care adult gerontology, and mental health.
Best Education Schools
U.S. News also ranks nine education specialties, with the College of Education at Michigan State University claiming the top spot in the following categories: curriculum and instruction, educational administration, elementary teacher education, higher education administration and secondary teacher education.
Searching for a grad school of education? Access our complete rankings of Best Graduate Schools.
