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BendRnBender

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Posts posted by BendRnBender

    New Public Affairs Rankings (The Next Round) ??

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    I think USNews needs to do a better job differentiating between the main 'Public Affairs' ranking and the other side rankings... Schools like Goldman and Harris don't have an Masters of Public Affairs/Administration.. UChicago isn't even in the top 15 of the main Public Affairs rankings which is really odd. As a M.P.P., I find the Public Policy Analysis rankings to be the most relevant (yet a bit arbitrary).. but I won't complain as Berkeley is number 1 :)

    I think you are right. You should pay the most attention to the sub-field rankings. I've noticed that many of you are applying to MPP programs. The programs at the top of the MPP rankings are no surprise. Berkeley, Harvard, Chicago, Princeton et al. are all there. That said, if one is interested in nonprofit management, then one should move away from the Harvards and Chicagos and look at Indiana, Minnesota, NYU, Washington, and Syracuse.

    From the USN&WR website regarding methodology:

    The public affairs program rankings are based solely on the results of a peer assessment survey. Our rankings, completed in 2012 and based on surveys conducted in fall 2011, are based entirely on responses of deans, directors, and department chairs representing 266 master's of public affairs and administration programs, two per school. Respondents were asked to rate the academic quality of master's programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Scores for each school were totaled and divided by the number of respondents who rated that school.
    The response rate was 39 percent.

    Perhaps the 61% of school administrators that didn't respond were the ones that were busy actually making policy, dealing with 1000's of applications, and working hard to get their students jobs -- leaving no time to fill out US News's survey. Perhaps some of these schools' administrators just had nothign better to do.

    This is just dumb and doesn't deserve a response. When you design and administer your own survey, you will understand.

    I believe it's a difference in methodologies. Undergrad, law, and business rankings all use a number of metrics from admissions to career placements. However, the public affairs ranking is an academic peer survey of sorts if I'm not mistaken.

    You are right. An academic reputation survey will most likely lead to somewhat different results. Practitioners will value some different things. Regardless of whether you are going into academia or a public service job, these rankings are not a bad starting point.

    However:

    If you want a PhD in Public Policy, shoot for Harvard, Michigan, Chicago, etc.

    If you want a PhD in Public Administration/Affairs, shoot for Syracuse, Indiana, Georgia, etc.

    New Public Affairs Rankings (The Next Round) ??

    in Government Affairs Forum

    Posted

    I suspect that those of you who will trash these new rankings are a little upset that the program(s) that you are considering are not as highly ranked as you would like.

    Like it or not, the US News public affairs rankings are reputation based.Those of us who are active researchers in this field know what programs are good and what they are good at. We know who attracts the best students, produces the best students, and has faculty that are publishing in the major journals.

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