Price School ranked No. 3 Public Affairs School

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The USC Price School rose to No. 3 in the U.S. News & World Report’s national rankings for best public affair schools for the 2025-2026 period.

The school was previously ranked No. 4 among more than 260 schools with master’s programs in public affairs and administration.

Why it matters: The Price School has been ranked among the best schools of its kind for nearly two decades. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Price School among its top 5 public affairs schools since 2016 and among its top 10 since 2008.

The rise in rankings comes as the USC Price School continues to produce cutting-edge research that informs policymakers in every level of government.
Price also provides experiential learning, which allows students to learn by doing the work.

Cecilia Elena Rouse, president of The Brookings Institution, will be the keynote speaker for the USC Price School’s Commencement ceremony on May 16.

About Dr. Rouse: Rouse, a labor economist, made history as the first Black American to become Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, an agency within the Executive Office that provides objective economic advice to the U.S. president.

She now leads one of the nation’s top think tanks that has been at the forefront of public policy for more than a century.

What they’re saying: “President Rouse’s leadership is an inspiring example of public service for our graduates, who are embarking on their own journeys to make change for the common good,” said Christopher Boone, Dean and C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair of the USC Price School.

Ten undergraduate students from the USC Price School are spending the spring semester in the nation’s capital, part of the inaugural cohort of the Price Policy Semester in D.C program.

The new program gives students the chance to live and learn in Washington, D.C., taking classes at USC’s Capital Campus while interning with members of Congress or policy nonprofits they’ve chosen.
The internships give the aspiring public servants real-world experience and the chance to network with professionals.

In his words: “Being here has really broadened my perspective about opportunities that are available to us,” said junior Ezekiel Buenaventura, who interns on Capitol Hill. “The opportunities here in D.C. are quite literally endless.”

Read more about the D.C. program.

Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett has been awarded the Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professorship at the University of Iowa, joining a long list of accomplished scholars and writers to receive the honor.

As part of the visiting professorship, Currid-Halkett will deliver a lecture about her research on rural America.
She is the author of “The Overlooked Americans: The Resilience of Our Rural Towns and What It Means for Our Country.” Her book argues that rural and urban Americans have far more in common than not, and that many rural communities are faring much better than typically portrayed in media accounts.

Congratulations, Elizabeth!

📖 Debut Book: Alumna Aida Mariam Davis’ first book, ‘Kindred Creations,’ was featured at this year’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Read more

🎧 New PricePod: Professor Jason Doctor discusses his research on a possible solution to the opioid crisis: notifying doctors when their patients fatally overdose. Take a listen

🚨 Wildfire Response: This year’s Bohnett Leadership Fellows helped the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors respond to the LA wildfires. Read more

📽️ Film tax testimony: Associate Professor Michael Thom informed a California Senate committee that film production tax breaks don’t add up to gains for taxpayers. Read more

🏘️ Women in Real Estate: A panel of distinguished real estate alumnae shared advice and their professional experiences to Price students. Read more

Time, Yahoo and AOL quoted Antonio Bento for a story about how President Donald Trump’s tariffs will affect clean energy.

The Washington Post published an op-ed co-authored by Dana Goldman arguing that Medicare's refusal to broadly cover anti-obesity medications was a missed opportunity to make Americans healthier and richer.

Los Angeles Times spoke to Mindy Romero in a story discussing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s budget that may include over 1,500 layoffs.

HuffPost and Yahoo News quoted Shaun Harper for a story about Rep. Diana Harshbarger facing backlash for a racially insensitive remark.

Financial Times quoted William Resh about the qualities that make federal employees ideal workers, such as their commitment to the public good. Los Angeles Times interviewed Resh about the Trump Administration's closure of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

CNBC, BioSpace and Veteran Life spoke to Genevieve Kanter about mass layoffs at federal health agencies. Newsmax interviewed Kanter for a segment about potential health policy reforms the Trump Administration could implement.

Government Executive published an op-ed by Frank Zerunyan arguing that dismantling the Department of Education raises concerns about who will enforce the Federal Clery Act, a law mandating disclosure of crime on campus. The San Diego Union-Tribune featured Zerunyan in a story about California State Rep. Carl DeMaio’s aggressive fundraising despite an investigation into his campaign spending.

STAT featured an op-ed from Goldman and Darius Lakdawalla arguing against a policy that would peg U.S. drug prices to the lowest level paid by comparable countries.

This represents only a portion of recent USC Price faculty media.

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