The University of Washington School of Public Health (UW SPH) continues to rank amongst the best graduate schools of public health in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools released late Monday.
UW SPH tied for ninth with Boston University and ranks fifth amongst public institutions. Six of the School's programs rank in the top 20: biostatistics (No. 3 for science and 7 for area of study), environmental health sciences (No. 7), epidemiology (No. 8), health policy and management (No. 11), social behavior (No. 13), and health care management (No. 16).
The School houses five departments, four interdisciplinary programs, and more than 30 centers and institutes. The School’s 11,000+ alumni work to improve the health and well-being of communities in Washington state and around the world. Learn more about the School's impact in 2025 here.
U.S. News ranks biostatistics in two ways. UW ranked No. 3 as a science discipline that applies statistical theory and mathematical principles to research in medicine, biology, environmental science, public health and related fields. UW’s School of Public Health ranked No. 7 in biostatistics as an area of study that trains students to apply statistical principles and methods to problems in health sciences, medicine and biology. At the UW, biostatistics is a division of the School of Public Health.
The rankings of public health schools and programs are based on opinion surveys that are sent to deans, program directors, and other peers. Learn more about U.S. News’ methodology here.
The UW School of Law and the UW School of Medicine withdrew from the U.S. News rankings in 2022 and 2023, respectively, citing concerns that some of the methodology in the rankings for those specific disciplines incentivize actions and policies that run counter to the schools’ public service missions.
UW leaders continue to work with U.S. News and other ranking organizations — to the extent possible — to improve their methodologies. As part of ASPPH, UW SPH supports the ASPPH Stance on Third Party Ranking Systems - Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).
To learn more about the rankings and see other how other UW graduate courses rank, see the announcement from UW News.