U.S. News & World Report gives UI colleges, programs high marks

Photo by Rachel Zucker

According to the rankings, the College of Business ranks No. 35 in the nation, tying with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Georgia Institute of Technology, Penn State University-University Park, Rice University, and Southern Methodist University. U.S. News & World Report hadn’t ranked the college among the top 50 business schools since 1996, when it was also ranked No. 35.

The College of Medicine was ranked No. 29, up three spots from last year, when it was ranked No. 32. And the College of Law moved up one spot, from No. 21 last year to No. 20 this year, tying with Washington and Lee University.

In addition, the College of Education stands alone this year in the No. 30 spot, unlike last year when it shared the No. 30 ranking with George Washington University.

Specialty programs within the College of Medicine and the College of Liberal Arts’ Department of Sociology also made strides in the rankings. The rural medicine program ranked No. 3, up one spot from last year, when the program was ranked No. 4 in a tie with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The family medicine program was ranked No. 4, tying with Oregon Health Sciences University and rising five spots from last year, when it was ranked No. 9, tying with Michigan State University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of New Mexico.

The social psychology Ph.D. specialty program within the Department of Sociology also ranked No. 4, up one spot from last year, when the specialty was ranked No. 5 in a tie with the University of Wisconsin.

In a new ranking by the magazine, the UI’s clinical psychology Ph.D. program within the Department of Psychology was ranked No. 12, tying with Duke University.

In an expanded rankings list, UI programs garnered additional rankings—including five each in the Colleges of Education and Liberal Arts. For information about these rankings, see the April 2 UI News Services release at www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/releases.html.

"The rankings confirm what many people have known for a long time, which is that The University of Iowa has excellent programs across the board," UI President Mary Sue Coleman said. "Our Colleges of Medicine, Law, Liberal Arts, and Business are among the best in the country, as are many of the University of Iowa colleges and programs not ranked this year."

Coleman added, "The investments that Iowa makes in higher education are paying handsome dividends in providing world-class opportunities for Iowans in virtually all fields of study. Sustained investment over time is what has made these excellent rankings possible."

The 2002 America’s Best Graduate Schools was on newsstands April 2. The April 9 issue of U.S. News & World Report went on sale the same day, featuring select rankings and other excerpts from the guide. All of the rankings and articles from America’s Best Graduate Schools also are available at U.S. News Online at www.usnews.com. U.S. News first ranked graduate schools in 1987 and has done so annually since 1990.

Article by Stephen Pradarelli