The University Record, April 3, 2000 Editor’s Note: U.S. News and World Report does not rank every discipline every year.
By Jane R. Elgass
The School of Social Work leads the nation’s schools yet again in that field in the latest rankings of graduate and professional schools and Ph.D. programs released last week by U.S. News and World Report . The School of Social Work was tied for first with Washington University, St. Louis, in 1997, the last time the magazine ranked the discipline. Washington University is second this year.
“The University of Michigan School of Social Work has always ranked among the top academic institutions in the country, and there is always some fluctuation in the rankings,” says Dean Paula Allen-Meares. “However, we are proud and gratified that our tradition of excellence in social work education has been confirmed again.
“Our reputation reflects the devoted efforts of our faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as the continuing commitment of the University’s administration to support our endeavors in social work education, research, and service. It is both our experience and our dream for the future that our graduates will continue to utilize their education and talents to rectify the ills of social injustice and promote an enhanced quality of life.”
Other graduate and professional schools placing in the top 10 in their fields include the School of Nursing (4), School of Public Health (4), School of Music (4), College of Engineering (4 with Georgia Technological Institute), School of Education (7), Law School (7) and the Business School (9).
The School of Public Health’s Health Services Administration Program, the higher education administration program at the School of Education and the social psychology program of the Department of Sociology were ranked number one nationwide.
Within the School of Nursing, several specialties ranked in the top 10 nationwide: clinical nurse specialist-adult/medical-surgical, tied for third with Rush University; community/public health (3); nursing service administration (6); nurse practitioner-family (6); and gerontological (tied for sixth with the University of Maryland-Baltimore).
The University of Washington leads nursing schools, followed by the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Heading the list of music schools was the University of Rochester, followed by Indiana University-Bloomington and the Juilliard School. Five School of Music programs are in the top five nationally: conducting, first in a tie with the University of Rochester; composition (2), orchestra/symphony (4), piano/organ/keyboard (4) and opera/voice (5). The School of Music ranked fourth in 1997.
Heading the list of engineering schools this year are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. The U-M tied for third last year, also with Georgia Tech. Nine engineering specialties were ranked among the top five in their fields this year: industrial/manufacturing (2), nuclear (3), aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (4), electrical/electronic/communications (5), mechanical (5), computer (6), materials (6), bioengineering/biomedical (8) and civil (8).
The Business School, which ranked seventh in 1997, has 10 specialties ranked in the top 10: general management (3); production/operations management (4); part-time M.B.A. program, fifth with DePaul University; marketing (6); quantitative analysis (6); accounting (6); international business (7); entrepreneurship (9); nonprofit organizations, ninth with the University of California, Berkeley; and finance (10).
Topping the list of business schools are Harvard University and Stanford University, tied for first; University of Pennsylvania; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Northwestern University; Columbia University and the University of Chicago, tied for sixth; and Duke University.
Six specialties in the School of Education, which ranked eighth in 1999, are among the top 10 nationwide: higher education administration (1); educational psychology, fourth with Berkeley; social/philosophical foundations (6); curriculum/instruction, seventh with the University of Georgia; elementary teacher education (8); and administration/supervision (10).
Education rankings are led by Harvard University; Stanford University; Teachers College, Columbia University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; and Vanderbilt University.
Up one from its 1999 eighth-place position, Law School had top-ranked programs including trial advocacy, eighth with Samford University and the South Texas College of Law; clinical training, ninth with the University of California, Los Angeles; international law, ninth with American University; and tax law, 10th with Stanford University.
Tops among law schools are Yale University, Stanford University, Harvard University, New York University, Columbia University and the University of Chicago.
Schools not in the top 10 but ranked by the magazine include the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (11); the Medical School, 12th overall with the Baylor College of Medicine and 28th in primary care with Tufts University and the University of Virginia; and the School of Art (26).
Ranked Medical School specialties included women’s health, seventh with the University of California, Los Angeles; geriatrics (7), internal medicine (9), and family medicine, ninth with Michigan State University, University of Iowa and University of New Mexico. The Medical School ranked 10th in 1999.
The University’s creative writing master’s degree program is ranked sixth, the same spot it held in 1997, the first time such programs were ranked.
A number of Ph.D. programs also are ranked.
Economics is ranked 12th (same as 1998), with several specialties also ranked: public finance (6), industrial organization (10) and international economics (10).
English is ranked 14th, down from 12th in 1998 with its gender and literature program tied for 10th with Brown University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
History is sixth, as it was in 1998. Its cultural history program is tied for third with Harvard University, along with women’s history (4), European history (7), African American history, seventh with Stanford University, and modern U.S. history (10).
Political science is again ranked second (in a tie with the University of California, Berkeley). It’s American politics program is tied for first with Harvard University. Also ranked are comparative politics (4), international politics (5) and political theory (8).
Psychology ranks third with the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. It was ranked third in 1998. Its clinical psychology, developmental psychology and experimental psychology programs all are ranked second nationwide.
Sociology held its fourth place ranking (1998) in a tie with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Its social psychology program is ranked first. The social stratification program is ranked third with the University of California, Berkeley, and historical sociology is ranked fifth.
Six Ph.D. programs in the sciences were ranked, all of them retaining the same rankings they had in prior years (prior year in parentheses).
Biological sciences (1999) is ranked 17th with Columbia University and the University of California, San Diego. The program in microbiology is eighth and the pharmacology/toxicology program is tied for eighth with Stanford University and Washington University, St. Louis.
Chemistry (1999) is tied for 20th with Indian University-Bloomington, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Minnesota and the University of Pennsylvania.
Computer science (1999) is ranked 13th, with hardware ranked eighth.
Geological sciences (1999) is tied with Columbia for fifth. Geochemistry and sedimentology/stratigraphy are second and paleontology is fourth.
Mathematics (1999) is tied for ninth place with Cornell University and New York University. Algebra and number theory are ranked sixth and mathematical statistics is 10th.
Physics (1999) is ranked 13th, with atomic/molecular ranked fifth and elementary particles 10th.
More details are on the Web at www.usnews.com.
