Florida Atlantic University has climbed in several graduate program rankings this year, according to the U.S. News & World Report released on Tuesday. FAU had notable improvements in this year’s report, especially in computer science, which climbed 27 spots to No. 133 in 2026.
According to U.S. News & World Report, the rankings are based on expert opinion on program excellence and statistical indicators of a school’s academic productivity and postgraduate outcomes.
There were also new rankings that debuted this year in FAU’s College of Business, including international business at No. 42, production operations MBA at No. 67, and entrepreneurship at No. 68. Marketing came in at No. 79, executive MBA at No. 84, and information systems at No. 101. Finance is ranked No. 113, accounting is No. 132, and business analytics is No. 158.
However, FAU is still unranked by the U.S. News & World Report in the business category.
In addition, program rankings from FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science also debuted, including earth sciences at No. 132, mathematics at No. 148, physics at No. 165, and chemistry at No. 171.
While FAU saw major improvements in this year’s ranking, they weren’t the highest-ranked graduate school in Florida.
How do they compare to other Florida universities?
FAU is rising in the graduate college rankings; however, other Florida universities have established themselves among the best, according to the report. The University of Florida (No. 39), the University of Miami (No. 39), and the University of South Florida (No. 98) were the top three business schools in the state.
In medical schools (research), UF and USF were tier 1 programs, while UM was tier 2 in the U.S. News report, and FAU was ranked tier 3. Furthermore, the top three state schools for engineering are UF (No. 46), University of Central Florida (No. 71), and USF (No. 83). FAU was ranked in this category, but sits at No. 142 in the report.
One reason schools like UF have a higher-ranked business program than FAU could be the funding they invest in it. UF set a record by spending $1.33 billion in 2025. In the fiscal year 2023, FAU had a total value of $75.4 million.
Another ranking FAU fell behind in is education, even after taking strides in this year’s ranking by the U.S. News & World Report.
While FAU ranked top 100 (No. 95) in education, UF (No. 2), Florida State University (No. 16), and UCF (No. 41) ranked much higher.
However, FAU is not too far behind in the Best Nursing Schools for Master’s (No. 60), but still fell behind USF (No. 22), UM (No. 26), and Florida International University (No. 54).
The Best Nursing Schools for the Master’s category ranked among FAU’s highest. However, a school like USF was ranked No. 1 among Florida’s public universities in its Master of Science Nursing program for five consecutive years (2021-26) while also climbing to No. 22 nationally in 2026.
Anthony Ortiz is a Reporter for the University Press. Email him at [email protected] or DM on Instagram @ajortiz_38 for more information on these and other stories.
