U.S. News and World Report has again named the Colorado School of Public Health among the top 20 schools and programs of public health in the nation in its 2023-2024 rankings. It rose two spots over last year.

ColoradoSPH – a collaboration among Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Northern Colorado – is now ranked 17th out of 206 Master of Public Health programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

“Colorado State University is a proud partner within the ColoradoSPH,” said Tracy Nelson, director of ColoradoSPH at CSU. “The collaboration across campuses in research, academics and service has provided a unique opportunity for faculty, students and our community partners.  It is wonderful to see the school recognized in this way.”

The public health rankings are based on information about the schools, including peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators, or faculty of CEPH-accredited public health degree programs or schools.

“This ranking reflects our growing recognition as one of the best schools in the nation — and the leading school in the Rocky Mountain region—where students can pursue a quality public health education,” said ColoradoSPH Dean Jonathan Samet. “I am proud of the role that the Colorado School of Public Health played with many partners during the COVID-19 pandemic during my time as dean, and of all the work our school is doing in multiple areas of public health regionally, nationally and worldwide.”

Five specialty rankings

New this year, U.S. News also released its first rankings of the five “specialty” areas (or core competency areas) that all MPH graduates must demonstrate to earn their degrees and for a school to be accredited: biostatistics, epidemiology, social and behavioral sciences, environmental health sciences, and health policy and management. The Colorado School of Public Health was included in the top 20 for each specialty area. The 2023 rankings are:

• #15 in Biostatistics
• #18 in Epidemiology
• #17 in Social and Behavioral Sciences
• #17 in Environmental Health Sciences
• #17 in Health Policy and Management
• #17 Overall ranking for graduate schools/programs in public health

“Our students and community partners continuously challenge us to go off trail and push the boundaries of system-level and policy-level health solutions,” said Glen Mays, professor and chair of the Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy. “It is gratifying to see our work receive this national recognition.”

‘Growing national recognition’

In addition to the specialty area ranking in biostatistics, ColoradoSPH’s Biostatistics Ph.D. program was last ranked in 2022 as 26th in the nation out of 65 graduate schools and programs in biostatistics.

“I’m pleased to see the growing national recognition of our department in the profession,” said Debashis Ghosh, professor and chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics. “This is a testament to the hard and impactful work done by our faculty, staff and students.”

ColoradoSPH celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Since its inception in 2008, the school has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report in rankings of graduate programs in public health as follows:

• 2014: No. 31 out of 50 graduate schools of public health (the first year ColoradoSPH was eligible after the school was established and accredited)
• 2019: No. 23 out of 177 CEPH-accredited schools and programs in public health
• 2021: No. 20 out of 188 CEPH-accredited schools/programs
• 2022: No. 19 out of 195 CEPH-accredited schools/programs
• 2023: No. 17 out of 221 CEPH-accredited schools/programs

ColoradoSPH has MPH and certificate programs at the three Colorado universities as well as M.S., Ph.D. and Dr.P.H. programs at CU Anschutz.

“Our faculty, staff and students are pushing us forward as an institution, and our alumni are filling critical public health roles in Colorado and beyond,” Samet said. “I have no doubt that we will continue to move up in rankings as we develop new programs, advance our research, and find innovative ways to train our students.”