The Master of Public Administration program in the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs at Wichita State University has been ranked No. 17 by U.S. News & World Report among all public affairs programs in the nation in the specialty area of public finance and budgeting.

Only two of the six public finance and budgeting programs ranked higher than the Hugo Wall School do not have doctoral programs. The Hugo Wall School also does not have a doctoral program.

This is significant because doctoral programs have the advantage of having a higher number of faculty and students engaged in publishing activities, which create enhanced visibility and reputation for the school.

This also gives doctoral programs the added advantage of having alumni who are participating in the ranking process.

All seven Hugo Wall faculty members have some expertise in the area of public finance and budgeting. That includes Bart Hildreth, interim dean of the W. Frank Barton School of Business and Regents Professor; city of Wichita interim manager Ed Flentje; Mark Glaser; Nancy McCarthy Snyder; Melissa Walker; Hugo Wall interim director John Wong; and Sam Yeager.

In addition, Regents Professor emeritus Glenn Fisher is a nationally renowned scholar on property tax.

U.S. News & World Report also ranked the Hugo Wall School No. 72 out of 261 public affairs program in the country. The rankings are based on a survey assessment of each program’s national reputation.