courtesy U.S. News & World ReportThe UAB Master of Science in Health Administration program is now ranked #2 in the nation according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. That is currently the highest ranking for any program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The MSHA program, housed in the Department of Health Services Administration, is only one-tenth of a point behind the top ranked program in the category of Best Grad Schools in Health Care Management.

The UAB Physician Assistant program makes the highest jump of any program in the UAB School of Health Professions, leaping nine notches up to 16th in the nation. The PA improvement gives the school three Top 20 ranked programs.

The latest rankings were released in the 2016 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

“Every year many different groups hand out many different rankings yet the gold standard year in and year out is U.S. News & World Report because it is based upon the input of peer programs and institutions; and let me tell you, there is no better feeling than to be named one of the best in the nation by your peers,” said UAB School of Health Professions Dean Harold P. Jones, Ph.D. “To be ranked takes input from everyone involved in a program both past and present; it is the culmination of students, alumni, faculty and staff working together to better each other and that effort is reflected in each of these programs.”

The MSHA program has steadily moved up in the rankings over most of the past decade advancing from #7 in 2009 to #5 in 2011 to #2 today. While the PA program is one of the biggest jumpers in the current rankings. They leap nine notches from #25 up to #16 in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.

The UAB School of Health Professions, with the Physical Therapy program ranked 19th and the Occupational Therapy program ranked 28th, gives the SHP four schools ranked in the nation’s Top 30. U.S. News & World Report rankings are staggered so different programs are ranked in different years. UAB PT and UAB OT did not rise this year because those program's rankings were not updated for 2016.

The U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on results of surveys sent to peers at accredited degree programs in each discipline. Health care management programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME); physician assistant programs are accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant; physical therapy programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education.