March 12, 2013

University of Colorado graduate programs earn top national ratings

DENVER – Graduate programs across the University of Colorado system continue to gain attention for excellence in the latest annual rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Research and teaching contributions by the four campuses in health care, engineering, law, education and business are well-represented in the 2014 edition of Best Graduate Schools (U.S. News Media Group).

A sampling of CU’s 2014 rankings (full lists available via U.S. News on March 12):

University of Colorado Boulder

  • No. 1: CU-Boulder retains top honors for the atomic/molecular/optical physics program, tied with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Top 10: Other CU-Boulder programs ranking in the top 10 nationally are environmental sciences (fifth), environmental law (fifth), quantum physics (fifth) and physical chemistry (eighth).
  • Some 10 other CU-Boulder schools and programs land on the national rankings within their fields: clinical psychology (18), physics (19), earth sciences (23), chemistry (26), School of Education (28), psychology (30), biological sciences (30), College of Engineering and Applied Science (34), Leeds School of Business (38 for part-time MBA schools) and Law School (44).

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, School of Medicine

  • Top 10: The school ranks fifth nationally for primary care, with the specialties of family medicine (third), pediatrics (fifth) and rural medicine (eighth) also ranking high.
  • Within the nursing program (15th), the pediatric nurse practitioner program ranks fifth; nursing-midwifery, 13th; family nurse practitioner, 16th.
  • The School of Medicine ranks 35th overall for research. The physician assistant program ranks at 11.

University of Colorado Denver

  • The School of Public Affairs, with programs at CU Denver and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, is listed at 29 nationally.
  • The School of Education and Human Development is ranked at 81.

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

  • UCCS shares the School of Public Affairs (29) honor with CU Denver.

The 2014 Best Graduate Schools includes essential, detailed statistical information on more than 1,200 programs nationwide, with rankings in five of the largest professional graduate school disciplines (business, law, education, engineering, and medicine). Highlights of the rankings will be published in the Best Graduate Schools 2014 edition guidebook, available April 9, 2013.
Rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinions about program quality, and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students. These data come from surveys of more than 1,200 programs and some 12,400 academics and professionals. The publication aims to provide a tool to students and parents who are comparing college programs at accredited public and private universities in the United States.

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