Engineering Makes US News Graduate Rankings Steven Beeber NEWS OFFICE April 7, 2000 The College of Engineering has been ranked number 49 out of a total of 219 graduate engineering programs nationwide in U.S. News & World Report's year 2001 rankings of "America's Best Graduate Schools." The magazine also lists previously ranked campus programs, including Linguistics and Polymer Science, both ranked number one, and the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing, ranked number 10. This year's new rankings are only for graduate programs in business, law, medicine, education, engineering and allied health specialties. Rankings for other programs in the humanities and the sciences are only offered at three-year-intervals. The rankings are in the magazine's issue dated April 10. Some programs not listed in the magazine are available in the magazine's guidebook or on the magazine's Web site (www.usnews.com). U.S. News & World Report has been ranking the nation's graduate schools since 1987. School rankings are based on objective data such as student selectivity, faculty resources and research activity, plus two sets of reputation ratings, one from deans and faculty members and one from people outside academia who are likely to hire or come in contact with new graduates. Master's and doctoral programs are ranked by reputation based upon surveys of the dean or top administrator and at least one other administrator or faculty member at each school. Cora B. Marrett, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, said, "These rankings confirm the strength of our programs and also indicate the University's national leadership in a wide range of disciplines."