In the U.S. News & World Report released Monday, March 13, University of Michigan graduate programs were once again highly ranked.
Graduate programs maintained top-15 rankings in the six fields of study ranked by “Best Graduate Schools” — medicine, nursing, law, education, engineering and business. The rankings were formulated through a combination of objective and subjective factors, including surveys distributed to 16,500 professionals and almost 2,000 graduate program administrators.
According to the U.S. News Report, the University Law School ranked eighth nationally, the College of Engineering ranked sixth and the School of Nursing ranked seventh. Additionally, the Medical School ranked 11th in research and fourth in primary care, and the Ross School of Business and the School of Education came in at number 12 on their respective lists.
In a new category, U.S. News ranked doctor of nursing practice programs as well as master’s programs in nursing, which ranked 10th in the nation.
The Ford School of Public Policy, ranked every three years, came in eighth, while the College of Pharmacy was ranked third.
Finally, the School of Social Work ranked first in its field. The program received a score of 4.5, higher than the second and third place programs at Washington University in St. Louis and University of California at Berkeley.
Robert Morse, U.S. News chief data strategist, wrote on the U.S. News website that scores were formulated on the basis of peer-assessment surveys sent to deans and faculty of the schools being ranked.
“Respondents rated the academic quality of programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding),” he wrote. “They were instructed to select ‘don’t know’ if they did not have enough knowledge to rate a program.”
University spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen wrote in the University Record that officials see rankings as just one component that should factor into how an individual chooses a school.
“U-M officials note that rankings are just one measure of a university,” she wrote. “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.”