Wagner College was listed among the Top 50 master’s universities in the country in the Washington Monthly magazine’s 2020 college rankings, which were released Aug. 31.
Wagner College was ranked #49 of the 614 colleges and universities across the United States that grant master’s degrees — in the top 8% nationwide.
The rankings evaluate American colleges and universities “based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility, research, and promoting public service,” according to the magazine’s editors.
This is the 16th edition of the Washington Monthly’s college rankings for service to the public good.
“Since 2005, the Washington Monthly has ranked colleges based on what they do for the country,” the editors said. “It’s our answer to U.S News & World Report, which relies on crude and easily manipulated measures of wealth, exclusivity and prestige.”
One of the factors behind Wagner’s high ranking on the Washington Monthly list is its strength in improving the social mobility of its graduates. Among master’s universities, Wagner was ranked in the top tenth — #56 out of 614 — for social mobility. (See this page on the Washington Monthly rankings site for their definition of “social mobility.”)
Wagner College was also named a “Best Bang for the Buck” among northeastern U.S. colleges and universities, ranked in the top 16% of northeastern schools (#60 of 397). Washington Monthly explains that its “Best Bang” schools are “ranked according to how well they help non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.”