The School of Engineering’s graduate program improved two positions to No. 34 in annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The 2015 graduate program rankings were released today.
The school, which tied with Yale University and the University of Colorado-Boulder, ranks ahead of Rensselaer Polytechnic University and the University of Virginia, and just behind Rice and the University of California-Davis. MIT was ranked No. 1.
“After nearly 15 years of a steady climb in the rankings, this is the highest rank the school has ever received for its engineering graduate program. It reflects on our ability to attract and retain world-class researchers, who together with our outstanding students, are helping solve major societal problems,” said Philippe Fauchet, dean of the School of Engineering.
“We are strengthening our position as one of the leading schools of engineering in universities our size.”
Programs at 199 engineering schools that grant doctoral degrees were surveyed; 193 responded and 191 provided the data needed. Data were collected in fall 2012 and early 2013.
The School of Engineering received recognition in a number of specialties. Biomedical engineering is 20. Chemical engineering is No. 45. Civil engineering is No. 41. Computer science is No. 56. Electrical engineering is No. 48. Environmental engineering is No. 50. Materials engineering is No. 61. Mechanical engineering is No. 42.
Peer opinion data is gathered from deans, program directors, and senior faculty to judge the academic quality of the programs. Professionals who hire new graduates are also surveyed. Other “quality indicators” include acceptance rates, mean quantitative GRE score, faculty membership in the National Academy of Engineering, research activity, including total research expenditures and average research expenditures per faculty members, doctoral degrees granted, student-faculty ratio, and total graduate engineering enrollment.
Rankings were available for viewing at the U.S. News and World Report website.