University of Michigan graduate programs are among the best in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 edition of Best Graduate Schools. The rankings were released March 30.

U.S. News annually ranks six professional school programs and specialties in the areas of business, education, engineering, law, nursing and medicine, while other schools, as well as disciplines and specialties in the sciences, social sciences and humanities, health and other areas are only ranked periodically.

U-M maintained top-15 rankings in these newly ranked schoolwide categories:

• The College of Engineering ranked No. 7.
• The School of Nursing master’s program ranked No. 11, and its Doctor of Nursing Practice program ranked No. 14.
• The Law School ranked No. 10.
• The Stephen M. Ross School of Business ranked No. 13.
• The School of Education ranked No. 9.
• The Medical School’s research program ranked No. 15, and its primary-care program ranked No. 15.
• The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy ranked No. 7.
• The School of Information ranked No. 6.
• The School of Public Health ranked No. 4.

U.S. News also published rankings for Ph.D. programs in economics, English, history, sociology and political science. The updated U-M rankings this year include:

• Economics (12).
• English (8).
• History (2).
• Political science (4).
• Sociology (2).

The rankings are based on expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students.

While the university values the measurements of academic and research performance, U-M officials note that rankings cannot fully account for or capture the university’s mission. With the challenges posed by COVID-19, 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.

In addition to the overall program rankings, U-M was rated on 102 specialties. Of those, five were ranked first: higher education administration, nuclear engineering, social policy, American politics and historical sociology.

The specialties that received rankings this year are:

Business specialties — accounting (6), business analytics (17), entrepreneurship (7), executive MBA (5), finance (10), information systems (16), international (11), management (5), marketing (4), nonprofit (6), part-time MBA (6), production/operations (3), project management (2), real estate (18) and supply chain/logistics (10).

Also, UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint ranked 106 and 152, respectively, among part-time MBA programs.

Economics specialties — development economics (12), industrial organization (14), international economics (8), labor economics (6), macroeconomics (14) and public finance (8).

Education specialties — curriculum/instruction (3), education policy (6), educational administration and supervision (9), educational psychology (2), elementary teacher education (2), higher education administration (1), secondary teacher education (3).

Also, UM-Dearborn’s education programs ranked 154, and UM-Flint’s Education programs ranked in the 211-277 range.

Engineering specialties — aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (5), biomedical (10), chemical (10), civil (7), computer (5), electrical/electronic/communications (7), environmental/environmental health (3), industrial/manufacturing/systems (2), materials (8), mechanical (5) and nuclear (1).

UM-Dearborn ranked in the following specialties — computer (114), electrical/electronic/communications (134), industrial/manufacturing/systems (75), materials (139).

English specialties — 18th through 20th century British lit (10), gender and literature (7) and literary criticism and theory (18).

History specialties: African history (5), African American history (9), Asian history (8), cultural (10), European history (7), Latin American history (4), modern U.S. history (7), U.S. colonial history (11) and women’s history (4).

Law specialties — business/corporate law (9), clinical training (6), constitutional law (13), contracts/commercial law (7), criminal law (10), dispute resolution (32), environmental (37), health care (23), intellectual property (15), international (6), legal writing (9), tax (8), trial advocacy (67).

Library and information studies specialties — archives and preservation (4), digital librarianship (8), health librarianship (2), and information systems (3).

Medical specialties — Anesthesiology (6), family medicine (7), internal medicine (7), new category: most diverse (68), new category: most graduates practicing in medically underserved areas (40), new category: most graduates practicing in primary care fields (136), new category: most graduates practicing in rural areas (129), obstetrics and gynecology (6), pediatrics (10), psychiatry (11), radiology (9), and surgery (4).  

Nursing specialties — Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse practitioner — family (9), master’s nurse practitioner — adult/gerontology/primary care (8) and master’s nurse practitioner — family (9).

Political science specialties — American politics (1), comparative politics (7), international politics (6) and political methodology (4).

Public affairs specialties — environmental policy and management (7), health policy and management (4), international global policy and administration (14), nonprofit management (26), public finance and budgeting (27), public management and leadership (32), public policy analysis (5), social policy (1) and urban policy (16).

UM-Dearborn’s public affairs programs ranked 180, and UM-Flint’s public affairs programs ranked 193.

Sociology specialties: economic sociology (5), historical sociology (1), sex and gender (5), social stratification (3), sociology of culture (14), and sociology of population (5).

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• rankings
• U.S. News & World Report