The USC Price School has been ranked among the best public affairs schools for nearly two decades. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Price School among its top 5 public affairs schools since 2016 and among its top 10 since 2008.
The rankings are based on assessments by deans, directors and department chairs and peer institutions. See the full list of USNWR rankings here.
Cutting Edge Research
USC Price School continues to produce cutting-edge research that informs policymakers in every level of government. Aided by the school’s new Capital Campus in Washington, D.C., USC Price faculty are a growing presence on Capitol Hill, testifying before Congress on topics ranging from cuts to the federal workforce to drug pricing.
Since 2009, USC Price research has been cited over 400 times in congressional and agency documents, such as the Economic Report of the President, Federal Trade Commission staff reports, and Congressional Budget Office analysis. The school’s research has earned prestigious scholarly awards from academic organizations such as American Political Science Association and Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
For example, Associate Professor Geoff Boeing won a prestigious Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST) award for helping cities around the world measure their progress toward becoming healthier and more sustainable. His winning project provided local policymakers with open access tools that measure a city’s walkability, access to healthy food, public transportation, and urban heat vulnerability, among other factors.
“It’s thrilling to win this award because it amplifies our message of how evidence-informed planning can make our cities healthier, happier, more sustainable places to live,” Boeing said.
Focus on the Student Experience
Students play an integral role in making USC Price one of the best public affairs schools in the nation.
“Many of our PhD students are co-authoring papers alongside faculty,” Chen said. “This close collaboration helps our students not only strengthen their research skills but also develop independent research agendas.”
The faculty’s commitment to impact goes beyond research. It also motivates their focus on experiential learning, which allows students to learn by doing the work. To complete their degrees, graduate students complete capstone projects or policy analysis practicums, in which they tackle real-life policy challenges. Such projects include advising schools on expansion plans, helping cities electricity their vehicle fleet, and consulting for nonprofit organizations.
For example, four Master of Public Policy (MPP) students provided Congress with new insights into how Americans plan for retirement. Their findings are expected to help Congress track nationwide trends on private-sector pensions, which could help lawmakers create and evaluate policies.
Such projects are a chance to apply knowledge and skills from the classroom by answering research questions, delivering a final work product, and managing a relationship with a client.
“For this project, the real challenge for the first few months was finding questions that were truly useful for Congress, that could be done in this time span, and could be done with our analytical skills,” said recent graduate Drishti Baid. “So, in some sense, the rubber met the road.”
Among the Best Public Affairs Schools in the Nation, in the Heart of Los Angeles
Based in Los Angeles, a dynamic and diverse city, the USC Price School uses its location as a living laboratory to address global challenges.
Now, the USC Price School is expanding access to its top-tier graduate programs, launching a $20 million scholarship program covering up to 100% of tuition for graduate students focused on improving the quality of life of people in underserved communities in Southern California. The scholarship will open doors for more brilliant and passionate students who want to make a positive difference.
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