Rankings

AU consistently ranks among the nation’s great universities. A sample of recent rankings:

Overall Rankings

Princeton Review Best Colleges (2009)
#1 Most Politically Active Students
#5 Great College Town
#13 Best Quality of Life
#13 Best Career Services

U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Colleges (2009)
#58 Best College Rankings, High School Guidance Counselors
#83 Best National University

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Report
Our students say active learning is the norm at AU. Their responses placed AU above its peer institutions for the “Level of Academic Challenge,” “Student-Faculty Interaction,” and “Enriching Educational Experiences.”

School and Program Rankings

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

• CAS has earned national rankings in fields such as creative writing, economics, history, and music theatre and theatre.

KOGOD SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

• BusinessWeek's "The Best Undergraduate Business Schools" (2009)
  #28 Undergraduate Business Schools
  #27 Academic Quality
  #30 for the Percentage of Students Who Participate in Internships
  
• Princeton Review Best Business Schools (2008)
  #2 Best Campus Environment
• U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Colleges (2008)
  #83 Best Undergraduate Business Programs
• Washington Business Journal Book of Lists (2008)
  #7 Graduate Business Programs, Ranked by Total Enrollment
  #8 Executive and Part-Time MBA Programs, Ranked by Enrollment
• Real Estate Economics (2006)
  #37 Most Influential Institutions in Real Estate

SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

• Princeton Review Best Colleges (2009) rated AU a great school for journalism majors.
• SOC’s film and media arts program is a member of CILECT, the international association of film and television schools. Only 13 schools in the United States are CILECT members.
• Hollywood Reporter ranks AU as one of the country’s top film schools.

SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

• Foreign Policy Magazine (November 2005)
  #8 Schools for Policy Careers
  #8 Graduate Programs
  #11 Undergraduate Programs
  #25 Schools for Academic Careers

   (U.S. News & World Report does not evaluate schools of international relations.)

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

• U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Graduate Schools (2009)
  #14 Top Schools: Public Affairs
  #6 Top Public Management/Public Administration Program
  #18 Top Public Finance and Budgeting Program
  #21 Top Public Policy Program
  #23 Top Nonprofit Management Program
  

• Princeton Review Best Colleges (2009) rated AU a great school for criminology and political science–government majors.

WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW

• WCL offers nationally recognized clinical, international law, intellectual property, and trial advocacy programs in one of the nation’s most diverse law schools.

Other Indicators of Excellence

Study Abroad

• Peace Corps rankings for medium-sized colleges with the most volunteers (2009)
  #3 for undergraduates
  #5 for graduates

• Institute of International Education (Open Doors Report, 2008)
  #7 among the top 40 doctoral institutions for the most undergraduates studying abroad
  #18 among the top 20 doctoral institutions for long-term study abroad

Community Service

• For the fourth year, the Corporation for National and Community Service has named AU to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
• AU’s Alternative Breaks program has been selected as the 2008 Excellence Award Gold Medal Winner by NASPA—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education for its service learning and community service programs.

The Student Experience

• CollegeProwler.com (student ratings) gives AU an A on campus dining, local atmosphere, safety and security, and transportation, and an A- on campus housing, nightlife, and off-campus dining.
  
• The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students (2006) ranks AU in the Top 20 Best of the Best.
• U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Colleges (2009) ranks AU in its Best Colleges category for percent of undergraduates receiving Pell grants (11 percent), diversity, and average freshman retention rates (88 percent).

National Public Radio

• WAMU 88.5, American University Radio, ranks as the third-most-listened-to public radio station in the nation.

February 2009