The university continues to demonstrate its leadership in higher education with a strong showing in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s best graduate schools.

Among the programs ranked each year in America’s Best Graduate Schools — business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing — U-M maintained top-15 rankings in all six categories.

The annual list for U-M programs includes:

• The College of Engineering ranked fifth.

• The Law School ranked eighth.

• The Medical School’s research ranked ninth, and its primary-care program ranked fifth.

• The Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School of Nursing both ranked No. 11.

• The School of Education ranked No. 15.

For the second year, U.S. News ranked doctor of nursing practice programs along with master’s programs in nursing. U-M’s program ranked No. 15 in the nation.

U-M officials note that rankings are just one measure of an academic program. What matters most in choosing a school is the match between the particular interests, abilities and ambitions of each student with the specific programs, approaches and opportunities offered by a particular school.

U.S. News also published new rankings based on peer assessment only for graduate areas in social sciences, humanities, and library and information studies, which were last ranked in 2014. The rankings for these schools and programs are updated every three years, not annually.

The updated U-M rankings this year are:

• Economics (12).

• English (8).

• History (6).

• Political Science (4).

• Psychology (3).

• Sociology (1).

• Library and Information Studies (5).

In addition to the main program rankings, U-M was rated on 54 specialties. Of those, six were ranked first: higher education administration, nuclear engineering, behavioral neuroscience, experimental psychology, archives and preservation, and information systems.

Many specialties did not receive new rankings this year. But among those that did, U-M was ranked as follows:

Business specialties: accounting (5), entrepreneurship (6), executive MBA (6), finance (9), international (7), management (5), marketing (5), part-time MBA (6), production/operations (3), and supply chain/logistics (4).

Economics specialties: public finance (4).

Education specialties: administration/supervision (11), curriculum/instruction (6), education policy (5), educational psychology (2), elementary education (2), higher education administration (1), and secondary education (2).

Engineering specialties: aerospace (5), biomedical (10), civil (9), computer (6), electrical/electronic (7), environmental (4), industrial/manufacturing (2), materials (9), mechanical (6), and nuclear (1).

History specialties: Asian history (5), European history (6), Latin American history (5), and modern U.S. history (5).

Law specialties: clinical training (9), and international law (6).

Library and information studies specialties: archives and preservation (1), digital librarianship (8), health librarianship (4), and information systems (1).

Medical specialties: family medicine (4), geriatrics (8), and internal medicine (6), women’s health (9).

Nursing specialties: administration (5).

Political science specialties: American politics (5), comparative politics (6), international politics (5), political theory (5), and political methodology (5).

Psychology specialties: behavioral neuroscience (1), development psychology (2), experimental psychology (1), and social psychology (2). 

Sociology specialties: social stratification (4), and sociology of population (4).

Editor’s note: This story was written based on preliminary data released to the institutions. Additional information could be added after U.S. News releases its full rankings.