U.S. News & World Report ranks 48 KU graduate programs in top 50 among public schools

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has 48 graduate programs in the top 50 among public universities — including 10 programs in the top 10 — in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, released today.

Highlights include the following:

• KU’s local government management program retains its No. 1 ranking among all universities — a position it has held since 1998.
• KU’s special education and paleontology programs both rank No. 1 among public schools.
• In addition to those programs, KU ranks in the top 10 among publics in speech language pathology (No. 3), physical therapy (No. 5), nursing-midwifery (No. 7), public management and leadership (No. 7), education (No. 8), petroleum engineering (No. 9) and legal writing (No. 10).

Observers wanting to compare this year’s rankings to last year’s rankings should note that U.S. News & World Report no longer issues numeric rankings for medical schools, having switched to a tier ranking system last year. Therefore, the medical school rankings are not included in this year’s list of top 50 subjects. KU remained a Tier 1 school in the Medical School-Primary Care rankings (one of only 16 institutions in Tier 1) and ranked in Tier 2 in the Medical School–Research rankings.

U.S. News & World Report publishes its Best Graduate Schools rankings each spring. These rankings are different from the annual Best Colleges rankings, which are published each fall.

“We are always pleased to see so many of our graduate programs ranked among the nation’s best,” said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod. “That said, we remain focused on our own measures of success, which align with the Kansas Board of Regents’ strategic plan, the needs of Kansas businesses and communities, and our aspirations as one of the nation’s leading research institutions.”

Below is a full list of KU graduate programs ranked in the top 50 among public universities in today's announcement:

1. Local Government Management

1. Paleontology

1. Special Education

3. Speech Language Pathology

5. Physical Therapy

7. Nursing-Midwifery

7. Public Management and Leadership

8. Education

9. Petroleum Engineering

10. Legal Writing (Law)

11. Occupational Therapy

12. Environmental Law

13. Public Finance and Budgeting

14. Clinical Child Psychology

14. Dispute Resolution (Law)

15. Public Affairs

18. Audiology

18. Pharmacy

20. Curriculum and Instruction

22. Contracts-Commercial Law

22. Social Work

24. Full-Time Law

26. Clinical Psychology

27. Healthcare Management

28. Nursing-Anesthesia

30. History

31. Biostatistics

32. Business-Corporate Law

32. Psychology

35. Constitutional Law

35. Fine Arts

36. Aerospace Engineering

36. Full-Time MBA

38. International Law

39. Chemistry

39. Sociology

40. Earth Sciences

40. Intellectual Property Law

40. Mathematics

41. Political Science

42. English

42. Tax Law

44. Civil Engineering

44. Environmental Engineering

44. Trial Advocacy (Law)

47. Economics

47. Physics

49. Biology.