PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 21, No. 18, April 18, 2002

U.S.News & World Report releases graduate college rankings

Graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines fared well in the 2002 rankings released April 5 by U.S.News & World Report. UI units ranked in the top 10 nationally in the rankings include chemistry (6), computer science (5), engineering (5), microbiology (4), physics (9) and psychology (3).

The magazine annually re-ranks what its editors say are the five areas – business, education, engineering, law and medicine – that include the most popular choices for post-baccalaureate study.

Other disciplines are reviewed and ranked on different cycles – generally every third year, according to the magazine.

How other UI units (and specialties within units) fared in the rankings:

• Applied mathematics (27)
• Business (46): accounting (2)
• Chemistry: analytical (3), inorganic (5), organic (8), physical (9)
• Computer science: artificial intelligence (9), systems (6)
• Education (14): counseling/personnel services (7), curriculum/instruction (7), educational psychology (5), elementary education (6), secondary education (8), special education (6), vocational/technical (5)
• Engineering (5): aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (8), chemical (9), civil (2), electrical/electronic/communications (3), environmental/environmental health (4), materials (3), mechanical (5), nuclear (5)
• English (18)
• History (22)
• Hydrogeology (8)
• Law (25)
• Mathematics (16)
• Physics (9): condensed matter/low temperature (1)
• Political science (23)
• Psychology (3): cognitive psychology (3), developmental psychology (7), experimental psychology (4), industrial/organizational psychology (6)
  

Complete information is available at the U.S. News Web site: www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/grhome.htm. Full access to the graduate-school area of the Web site is by subscription only ($9.95 for access through March 2003).

More rankings (with a warning label)
The UI’s Education and Social Science Library hosts a Web site with an extensive list of links to rankings, including humorous sites. (The Campus Squirrel Listings states "the quality of an institution of higher learning can often be determined by the size, health and behavior of its squirrel population.")

Perhaps more important than the links to rankings is the site’s examination of rankings and the controversy surrounding them. Is there any true way to accurately rank institutions fairly and equitably?

The Web site is located at: www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/rankings.htm.