By Jane R. Elgass
The University’s graduate and undergraduate programs on the Ann Arbor campus have been ranked third among the nation’s “leading universities” in the latest (1993) edition of The Gourman Report.
The U-M trails Princeton and Harvard for its undergraduate programs and Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley, for its graduate programs. These rankings are identical to those received by the three institutions in 1989.
Only two other public institutions are in the top 10 in both graduate and undergraduate programs. The University of Wisconsin is ninth for its graduate programs, the University of California, Los Angeles, is 10th. Berkeley ranks sixth for graduate programs, Wisconsin ninth.
Gourman is professor of political science at California State University, Northridge. He has been preparing assessments of education for more than 30 years and has authored numerous books on the subject. He is a consultant to several major corporations and government agencies on educational problems.
Both the graduate programs study, now in its sixth revised edition since 1980, and the undergraduate study, now in its eighth revised edition since 1977, rely heavily on information provided by contributors representing their own institutions. The contributors are not permitted to comment on other schools’ programs.
The findings also draw on what Gourman calls “external resources,” information such as funding authorized by legislatures, filings on non-discrimination, and material provided by the institutions that is independently verified.
“While the Gourman Report uses a methodology that many people find controversial, it is always gratifying when a national survey confirms the outstanding quality of our undergraduate and graduate programs,” says Walter Harrison, executive director of University relations. “This is a tribute to our students, faculty and staff.”
A number of undergraduate disciplines, graduate and professional programs, and the University Library rank among the top 10 nationally.
The Library is ranked fifth, behind those of Harvard; Yale University; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and Berkeley.
Professional programs
Among professional programs, the Law School ranks second behind Harvard University. The School of Dentistry is third behind Harvard and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The Medical School places 10th among 19 schools. The graduate program of the School of Nursing placed third, trailing UCSF and Case Western Reserve University. The College of Pharmacy is ranked second behind UCSF.
Graduate programs
The U-M’s graduate programs in public health rank fourth, behind Johns Hopkins University, University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard. College of Engineering graduate programs ranked 10th. The School of Business Administration’s MBA program and its doctoral program also are ranked 10th nationwide.
Three graduate disciplines are ranked first among their peers: anthropology, industrial engineering and industrial/organizational psychology.
Other areas ranked 10th or better include: aerospace engineering (3), analytical chemistry (4), applied physics (6), architecture (7), art history (8), Asian languages (5), Asian studies (9), astronomy (10), botany (6), city and regional planning (8), civil engineering (10), classics (5), clinical psychology (3), communication (6), comparative literature (5), demography/population studies (3), developmental psychology (2),
East European/Soviet studies (4), environmental policy/resource management (10), experimental psychology (2), forestry (3), French (7), geochemistry (4), graphic design (9), history (5), industrial design (8), inorganic chemistry (7), Italian (8), journalism (7), landscape architecture (3),
Library science (3), mass communication/theory (4), mechanical engineering (10), music (9), Near/Middle Eastern studies (4), nuclear engineering (2), operations research (6), organic chemistry (6), philosophy (8), physical chemistry (7), physiology (9), political science (2), psychology (4), public administration (9), Slavic languages (8), social psychology (2), social welfare/social work (3), sociology (2), Spanish (6), and statistics (10).
Undergraduate programs
Three undergraduate disciplines—anthropology, marine biology and natural sciences—are ranked number one. Other disciplines ranked 10th and above are: accounting (3), aerospace engineering (2), African studies (5), American studies (3), Arabic (2), archaeology (4), architecture (6), art (9), art history (9), Asian/Oriental studies (7), astronomy (9), atmospheric sciences (2),
Bacteriology/microbiology (9), biophysics (2), botany (5), business administration (3), child psychology (5), Chinese (9), civil engineering (9), classics (5), communication (4), comparative literature (10), computer engineering (4), dance (5), earth science (2), East Asian studies (10), ecology/environmental studies (5),
Electrical engineering (10), environmental sciences (6), film (8), finance (3), fish/game management (9), forestry (2), French (7), Greek (10), Hebrew (2), history (6), industrial design (4), industrial engineering (2), information science (3), international relations (6), Italian (9), Japanese (7), journalism (5), labor and industrial relations (5),
Latin (7), management (4), marketing (3), mechanical engineering (9), medieval studies (7), meteorology (6), molecular biology (8), music (6), natural resource management (10), naval architecture and marine engineering (2), Near/Middle Eastern studies (7), neurosciences (2), nuclear engineering (2), nuclear physics (3), nursing (2),
Philosophy (8), physical sciences (3), planetary/space sciences (4), political science (2), Portuguese (5), psychology (4), radio/television studies (8), Russian (5), Russian/Slavic studies (5), Scandinavian languages (7), Slavic languages (5), social work/social welfare (7), sociology (2), Southeast Asian studies (5), Spanish (6), speech pathology/audiology (5), and wildlife biology (5).
