The University of Wisconsin School of Education was ranked by U.S. News as the top education graduate school in the country for the second year in a row — 11 of the school’s programs were also rated highly.
U.S. News highlighted the School of Education as No. 1 in both educational psychology and curriculum and instruction, and No. 3 in elementary teacher education. The UW School of Education has been ranked in the top five schools of education for the past 12 years.
To calculate the rankings, U.S. News sent out surveys to 476 education graduate schools in fall of 2024 and early 2025, and received 267 responses. The surveys considered various factors.
The factor that mattered the most — with 30% of the weight — was total expenditure on the university’s public and private research.
The second most important factor — with 20% of the weight — was the average expenditures per faculty member, according to U.S. News. This measures faculty research productivity and expenditure made by each full-time tenured faculty member.
Schools, superintendents and other educational professionals also rated and gave peer assessments to other institutions’ graduation programs. Rankings also took into consideration the total doctorates granted between 2023 and 2024, student-faculty ratio, percentage of faculty with awards and acceptance rates of schools.
Undergraduate student in the School of Education Greta Burtner said the school excels in making sure each area of study is represented equally. Burtner majors in graphic design and works as a student assistant in the School of Education’s Dean’s Office.
“I think the school does a really good job of making sure they’re considering everyone involved in the school, which includes students, professors, administrators, just that everyone is very careful and attentive,” Burtner said. “It’s a great atmosphere.”
Burtner began her career at UW as a history major, but switched within her first year to the School of Education to pursue graphic design. She said the advisors within the School of Education made the transfer as easy and stress free as possible.
Working in the Dean’s Office, Burtner gets a deeper understanding of how the School of Education works. She praised the care and attention the school gives to all degrees, highlighting her own experience as an art student.
“I’ve learned how much planning goes into all the departments and making sure all the departments are represented,” Burtner said. “I’ve had the opportunity to sit in on and facilitate different meetings, and they’re always very detailed and show a lot of care.”
The School of Education offers programs for curriculum and instruction, kinesiology, art, special education and more.
Undergraduate student in the School of Education Leela Mixer said she thinks the variety and size of the School of Education as well as its continual high ranking has an impact on incoming students. Mixer is pursuing an elementary education degree.
“I think the catalog of classes was a big factor that made me choose Madison,” Mixer said. “When I was looking at other schools, there was less variety. My professors have also all been very passionate about what they do, which I really like to see.”