By
The Graduate School of Social Work became Boston College’s first graduate school to earn a Top 10 ranking in the US News & World Report ratings of the nation’s best graduate schools.
GSSW climbed to 10th on the most recent list of the country’s best graduate schools of social work, which was released this week by US News, fulfilling an objective of school leadership, faculty and staff, according to GSSW Dean Alberto Godenzi.
“In 2004, GSSW faculty and staff set an ambitious goal: to become a top 10 social work program,” said Godenzi, who has served as dean since 2001. “Eight years later, colleagues from our sister schools have recognized GSSW’s remarkable trajectory and ranked us No. 10.”
The Lynch School of Education retained its ranking among the top 20 schools of education, ranking 18 and maintaining its place as the top-rated Catholic school of education. The Carroll School of Management graduate school ranked 37 overall. Among its programs, the part-time MBA program ranked 28 nationally. Boston College Law School maintained its place within the top 30 law schools, ranking 29 nationally. Graduate schools of nursing were not reviewed this year; the Connell School graduate program retains last year’s placement at 21.
GSSW’s best-ever ranking for a BC graduate school coincides with the academic year marking the school’s 75th anniversary.
“This new milestone reflects the the amazing accomplishments of faculty, staff, students, and alumni, and our strong relationships with local and global partners,” said Godenzi.
GSSW marked the start of its dodrancentennial anniversary last September with a keynote speech by Victoria Reggie Kennedy and has launched new initiatives designed to broaden the practice of social work, the skill sets of future graduates and respond to the need for new and innovative solutions to society’s most intractable problems.
Godenzi said the US News ranking would bolster the school’s efforts to seek out solutions that improve the lives of people in Boston and in communities around the world.
“We see this recognition as a call to deepen our understanding of social problems, to advance our imagination in pursuit of innovative solutions, and to increase our efforts to empower people and communities at the margins,” said Godenzi. “We thank Boston College for investing in social work education.”