Berkeley School of Education maintains high U.S. News & World Report ranking for 2024

U.S. News which released its annual rankings on April 9, received data for this year from 265 private and public colleges and universities granting doctoral degrees in education. The publication calculated rankings using indicators such as research expenditures, faculty resources, and quality assessments by peer institutions and education professionals.

Michelle D. Young, dean of Berkeley School of Education, cited Berkeley’s exceptional scholars as key to the school consistently ranking high, saying, “We are drawing on strengths of the greatest public university in the world. We’re conducting research that changes practice and policy, and we’re preparing people who are setting the world on fire.”

Berkeley School of Education’s faculty, students, and alumni are frequently recognized for their contributions to research and the field at large. Several of these accomplished scholars were honored at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) — the world’s largest gathering of education researchers.

For example, Distinguished Professor Kris D. Gutiérrez, the Carol Liu Professor of Education Policy, received AERA’s Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award; Associate Professor Travis J. Bristol received AERA’s Early Career Award; and Professor Zeus Leonardo presented the keynote address for the Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender Special Interest Group as winner of its Senior Scholar Award. Professor Janelle T. Scott, who holds the Robert J. and Mary Catherine Birgeneau Distinguished Chair in Educational Disparities, began her one-year term as AERA president at the meeting’s conclusion. In addition, AERA’s president-elect, Maisha T. Winn PhD ‘03, is an alum of the Berkeley School of Education’s prestigious PhD program.

Just as impressive as its scholarly excellence, Berkeley School of Education is in the forefront of technological and pedagogical innovation. Recently, the school unveiled a new immersive virtual classroom. This state-of-the-art lab — one of the first of its kind in a school of education — is designed to reimagine the synchronous online learning experience through cutting-edge video, audio, and collaborative technologies.

While it has long offered graduate programs, Berkeley School of Education has extended the reach of its expertise to undergraduates at UC Berkeley, through its new undergraduate major in Educational Sciences.

“With this major, we’re expanding our impact. Our students are shining examples of the diversity and brilliance that is Berkeley, and they are exactly the people we need in the education profession — empathetic, smart, adaptable, and willing to roll up their sleeves and pitch in with others to build a more equitable and just world,” Young said.