Vanderbilt’s School of Engineering undergraduate program improved five positions to No. 38 in annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The 2009 annual rankings were released today.
The School of Engineering tied with Arizona State University, Brown University, Case Western Reserve University, Iowa State University, Lehigh University, Washington University in St. Louis and Yale University. MIT was ranked No. 1.
“It is always gratifying to receive recognition from your peers,” said Dean Kenneth F. Galloway. “We are among a group of strong engineering schools that are all striving for excellence.”
In undergraduate engineering specialties, the School’s biomedical engineering program ranked No. 17 and tied with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
To appear on an undergraduate engineering survey, a school must have a program recognized by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). These programs are split into two groups: schools whose highest engineering degree offered is a doctoral and schools whose highest engineering degree offered is a bachelor’s or master’s.
The U.S. News rankings of accredited undergraduate programs are based solely on the judgments of deans and senior faculty who rated each program they are familiar with on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). Engineering school deans and faculty members (two at each engineering program) were surveyed in spring 2008.
The chief editor of U.S. News & World Report said he recognizes that the results are subjective but “it is a way for students to get intangibles about colleges.” Editor Brian Kelly estimates that, on average, half a million prospective students read U.S. News & World Report.
Vanderbilt University was named the No. 18 national university in the annual rankings.
Highlights of the rankings will be published in the Sept. 1 issue of U.S. News & World Report, which will be available Aug. 26 on newsstands