Quality of KU's graduate programs highlighted by U.S. News


Jack Martin, Office of Public Affairs

LAWRENCE – The 2016 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” rankings confirms that for breadth and quality of graduate programs, the University of Kansas is unmatched in the state.

Forty-four KU graduate programs appear in the “Best Graduate Schools” rankings, more than all other Kansas universities and colleges combined. Ten KU programs appear in the top 10 among public universities nationally, and 38 are in the top 50.

“We want scholars from around not just the nation, but the world, to come to Kansas because they want to be a part of our teaching and research, either as faculty members or as graduate students,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.

“Our graduate programs educate leaders who will go on to make contributions in essentially all disciplines, in both the private sector and academia, and those contributions directly benefit the people of Kansas and our society. This breadth and depth of excellence is just one example of what a flagship research university can bring to the state it serves,” she said.

The schools of Engineering and Law both saw their rankings rise for the third consecutive year. KU’s special education program held its top spot among public university programs, while the largest gains for an individual program were for the part-time MBA program, which rose 10 places to be tied for 39th among public university programs. City management and urban policy maintained its top overall ranking, as public affairs-related disciplines were not re-ranked this year.

In health-related fields, nursing rose four places to enter the top 20 among public university programs, while family medicine, an area of focus for the university given the state’s shortage of physicians, rose to 13th overall and kept its 12thplace ranking among public universities.

KU graduate programs ranked in the top 50 nationally among public universities:

1.      City Management & Urban Policy
1.      Special Education
2.      Occupational Therapy
3.      Public Management Administration
4.      Public Affairs
5.      Clinical Child Psychology
6.      Speech-Language-Pathology
7.      Audiology
9.      Physical Therapy
9.      School of Education
12.    Medicine - Family Medicine
12.    Public Finance & Budgeting
15.    Printmaking
15.    Social Work
17.    Clinical Psychology
20.    Medicine - Primary Care
20.    Nursing
20.    Pharmacy
23.    Psychology
25.    Healthcare Management
26.    Aerospace Engineering
27.    History
31.    Political Science
36.    English
36.    School of Law
37.    Medicine - Research
37.    Earth Sciences - Geology
38.    Biological Sciences (see: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Molecular Biosciences)
38.    Fine Arts
39.    Civil Engineering
39.    Part-time MBA 

41.    Mathematics
43.    Sociology
44.    Chemistry
45.    Economics
46.    Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering
47.    Electrical Engineering
50.    Mechanical Engineering

Additionally, in the U.S. News and World Report rankings of online programs, KU’s nursing master’s degree program ranks 16th among public university programs.