BSOS, UMD Celebrate Rankings Recognition

The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences is home to numerous graduate programs and areas of specialty that are highly rated in the 2026 edition of U.S. News & World Report's Best Graduate Schools rankings.

The Counseling program, jointly run by the Department of Psychology and the College of Education, was ranked #1 in the nation.

“BSOS students, faculty, staff and alumni all work to Be the Solution to the world’s great challenges through research, scholarship, teaching, and acts of service. It is then only fitting that many of our programs and areas of specialty are recognized as among the best in the nation, and in the world," BSOS Dean Susan Rivera said.

Not all categories are ranked every year. Additional BSOS highlights include:
No. 1 Criminology
No. 1 Counseling (PSYC & EDUC)
No. 12 Audiology
No. 12 Geosciences (globally)
No. 14 Sociology of Population
No. 18 Speech-Language Pathology
No. 24 Economics
No. 24 Sociology
No. 28 Political Science
No. 30 Psychology
No. 33 Clinical Psychology

Among all of the undergraduate disciplines within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, only two disciplines are ranked by U.S. News & World Report–Economics and Psychology:
Economics: No. 30 overall; No. 9 among public institutions, and
Psychology: No. 34 overall; No. 16 among public institutions.