Four of Boston University’s schools rose in the latest set of graduate school rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Photo by Cydney Scott

University News

BU Graduate Schools Rise in 2025 U.S. News Rankings

Business, education, engineering, and law and medicine’s Physician Assistant program all up in latest list

Four Boston University schools rose in the latest set of graduate school rankings from U.S. News & World Report, among them the School of Law, which rose 2 places to a tie for 22nd overall among law schools. 

“BU Law has long been home to exceptional students, stellar faculty, first-rate scholarship, and excellent programs, particularly in areas like health law and intellectual property,” says Angela Onwuachi-Willig, LAW dean and Ryan Roth Gallo Professor of Law. “We are proud to see the many strengths of our faculty, our students, our librarians, our staff—our entire community—get recognized.”

LAW also ranked 20th in schools with the most grads at big law firms, a new category this year, and was ranked 2nd in healthcare law programs (up one place), 21st in criminal law (up 3 places), tied for 23rd in best constitutional law programs (up 2), and tied for 31st in best clinical training programs (up 7 places). The school also tied for 34th in best legal writing programs, jumping 44 places from last year.

“I am particularly proud to see our legal writing/lawyering skills program get recognized with its jaw-dropping jump,” Onwuachi-Willig says. “The faculty in that program are incredibly dedicated to employing the most rigorous and effective pedagogical techniques for learning, and they are leaders within the field who are helping to set a new standard of progress in terms of what we teach students about the top lawyering skills and approaches, the ethical practice of law, and professional identity.”

Questrom School of Business rose 4 places to tie for 46th among full-time MBA programs—and its part-time MBA program also rose 4 places to rank 29th in that category.

“We’ve been working very hard to add flexibility, differentiation, customization, and excitement,” says Susan Fournier, Questrom’s Allen Questrom Professor and Dean. “We have a full-time MBA, part-time MBA, online MBA, and then we have specialty MBAs, the health sector MBA, the digital tech MBA, and the social impact MBA. We definitely have been doing more communication around the fact that we do have those specializations. And I think it’s starting to take hold.

“It is absolutely delightful to see the part-time program crack the top 30 for the first time,” Fournier says. “We’ve been working super hard to innovate in that program, and that’s one of the most competitive spaces around.”

Wheelock College of Education & Human Development gained 2 places to tie for 40th overall in education, and was ranked 24th in a category for best education policy programs.

“We’re proud to see BU Wheelock’s continued growth and commitment to excellence reflected in this year’s rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings for best schools of education,” says Penny Bishop, Wheelock dean. “To also be recognized among the top programs in education policy is a testament to the systems-level impact our researchers and graduates have on driving positive change in education.”

The College of Engineering climbed 4 places to tie for 27th among engineering schools. It also tied for 38th in computer engineering programs, up 6 places, and tied for 44th in industrial/manufacturing/systems engineering, up 11 places.

“It is gratifying to see that the groundbreaking work of our faculty is making major inroads as reflected in many ways, including those measured in these rankings,” says Elise Morgan, ENG dean ad interim. “Also gratifying is the recognition this work is garnering among our peers.”

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, students, and postgraduate outcomes for them,” U.S. News’ description says of its methodology.

The expert opinion was largely generated from peer assessment surveys sent to academics and to professionals in each field who worked with recent graduates in fall 2024 and early 2025, the magazine said.

BU’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine did not submit data for this year’s rankings of medical schools. But U.S. News ranked the Physician Assistant Program based on external data only, and the BU PA Program moved from 50th last year to tie for 26th this year.

The climb “is an amazing accomplishment and our faculty is understandably very proud,” says Susan White, program director and a clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the BU medical school. “The ranking is based on a peer assessment score from other PA educators, and it demonstrates the strong national reputation the Boston University PA Program has among other PA educators.”