GW rose three spots to No. 63 this year on the U.S. News and World Report ranking of the best universities in the nation.
The University’s position in the rankings has climbed seven spots in the past two years after dropping from No. 56 to No. 70 between 2018 and 2020. Interim Provost Christopher Bracey said GW’s overall ranking rose this year because of improvements in “social mobility,” graduation rate and student success.
He said while the University follows its place on the ranking, officials aim to create a “strong foundation” for students and improve access and affordability.
“Although we are rankings ‘aware’ as academic leaders, we are driven by a desire to provide the highest quality learning environment to prepare our students to transform the world and to push the frontier of knowledge through the production and dissemination of impactful research,” Bracey said in an email.
GW has now returned to the same ranking it held in 2018, after its ranking hovered around the 50s in earlier years. The University ranked at No. 50 in 2011 but was marked “unranked” in 2012 after officials admitted to inflating admissions statistics for years.
Graduate school data provided by Bracey shows that GW’s part-time master’s in business administration program increased by 13 spots to No. 53 this year. The nursing program also surged upward in the rankings – the master’s rose 11 spots from to No. 22 and the Doctor of Nusing practice jumped 17 spots to No. 28 nationwide, according to the data.
Among the downturns for graduate school programs, the University’s primary care medicine degree dropped 10 points down to No. 78, the data shows.
GW has also ranked last out of all of its 12 peer institutions in the past two years, according to the rankings.
Georgetown University remains at No. 23, tied with the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, while the University of Southern California dropped three spots to No. 27 this year. Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh tied on the ranking for No. 59 with the University of Washington and University of Maryland, College Park.
