Seattle University Graduate Programs Receive Top Rankings from U.S. News & World Report

Graduate-level programs within Seattle University’s Albers School of Business and Economics and College of Nursing are listed among the nation’s best in the 2023-2024 U.S. News & World Report “Best Graduate Schools” rankings.

“While rankings are only one metric, and an imperfect one at that, they do represent external recognition of the excellence of Seattle University and prospective students pay close attention to them,” explains President Eduardo Peñalver. “We are proud to see our superb graduate and professional programs receive the external recognition that we know they deserve.”

Albers MBA specialty programs continued to finish remarkably well. The Leadership Executive MBA (22), Finance (24) and Accounting (29) programs were all ranked in the Top 30 nationally and #1 in the Pacific Northwest. Additionally, Albers Part-Time MBA (PMBA) program is ranked 56th nationally and #2 in the Pacific Northwest.

“We are honored to be recognized as having some of the best business programs in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation,” says Albers Dean Joe Phillips, PhD. “The recognition reflects the hard work of our faculty and staff to deliver a high-quality experience to students.”

The College of Nursing’s Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) program continued its climb in U.S. News rankings, finishing 61st nationally.

“The College of Nursing has moved up 15 points in two years and 38 points in four years,” notes Dean Kristen Swanson, PhD. “Ranking 61st out of 409 DNP programs places us in the Top 15 percent nationally. We got there by remaining steady in our mission to educate leaders to transform health care for a just and humane world. This commitment drives everything we do, from enrolling and graduating a diverse student body to continuously redesigning the curriculum to better serve those communities and populations who entrust their care to our graduates. We are grateful to the faculty, staff, preceptors, alumni and agencies who have contributed to the education of our advanced practice students.”

SU's School of Law placed 8th nationally in legal writing and is ranked in the top 25 in two other categories: clinical training and its part-time Flex JD program. Overall, the law school has jumped 15 slots over the past two years due in part to large gains in career placement and bar passage. Additionally, the law school achieved its highest academic peer reputation ranking in a decade, and an academic peer rating that is tied with the highest such rating in its history. 

The College of Arts and Sciences Social Work program finished 79th nationally and its Public Affairs program 137th. 

The information presented in the 2023-2024 U.S. News rankings was collected during fall 2022 and early 2023. The “Best Graduate Schools” rankings are based on two types of data— expert opinion about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. The data in the rankings came from statistical surveys of more than 2,150 programs and from reputation surveys sent to more than 23,200 academics and professionals.