Media Contact
Laura Deupree
Senior Director, Marketing and Communications
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
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ATLANTA — As it approaches its 30th anniversary, Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies has risen to No. 14 overall among public affairs programs in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, continuing its upward momentum among the nation’s leading schools of public affairs.
Under the leadership of Dean Thomas J. Vicino, the school has advanced in national standings while strengthening its academic impact, research profile and student outcomes, with this year’s No. 14 ranking marking the highest placement in public affairs in Georgia State’s history.
“These rankings reflect the strength of our faculty, the impact of our research and the outcomes our students achieve in communities across the country,” Vicino said. “They affirm our commitment to preparing leaders who can navigate complexity and deliver results.”
The school’s leadership in urban policy remains a defining strength — No. 1 in Urban Policy in the nation. The school’s Urban Studies Institute advances interdisciplinary research and education focused on the complex challenges facing cities and urban regions, with an emphasis on building more livable, inclusive and sustainable communities.
Kevin Ward, an internationally recognized scholar of urban geography who joined the school in 2025 as director of the Urban Studies Institute, has further strengthened the institute’s research and academic profile.
“Our position at the top reflects the depth of our scholarship and the way we integrate research with policy practice,” Ward said. “We are producing work that shapes how cities address the challenges they face while training leaders who can operate at that intersection.”
Additional rankings reflect the strength of the school’s public management and policy programs, housed in the Department of Public Management and Policy, which prepare students to lead and manage organizations across government and the nonprofit sector through analytical training and applied experience:
- 7 – Local Government Management
- 7 – Nonprofit Management
- 14 – Public Management and Leadership
- 20 – Public Policy Analysis
“What stands out in these rankings is the consistency across our fields,” said William G. Resh, chair of the Department of Public Management and Policy. “From local government to nonprofit management, our programs are grounded in evidence, shaped by practice and designed to strengthen how institutions perform.”
Resh, who joined the Andrew Young School as department chair in 2025, brings nationally recognized expertise in public management and leads initiatives that connect research, teaching and practice.
The school also earned a No. 4 ranking in Public Finance and Budgeting, reflecting the strength of its economics programs and research enterprise. The Andrew Young School’s economics master’s program was recently ranked by the TFE Times as No. 1 in Georgia, No. 2 in the Southeast and No. 11 in the nation.
Through its Public Finance Research Cluster, the school advances rigorous analysis of taxation, government spending and fiscal policy, contributing to evidence-based decision-making at all levels of government. Collectively, the Andrew Young School generates more than $30 million in sponsored research annually, supporting faculty scholarship and real-world policy impact.
Founded in 1996, the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies brings together disciplines including criminal justice and criminology, economics, public management, public policy, social work and urban studies to address complex public challenges through research, teaching and community engagement.