Engineering School holds at No. 34 in U.S. News rankings

Vanderbilt School of Engineering remained No. 34 on the U.S. News and World Report’s list of the nation’s top undergraduate engineering programs at doctoral institutions.

U.S. News released online today its annual rankings of the United States’ best colleges and universities. For the fourth straight year, Vanderbilt University holds the No. 17 position. Vanderbilt shares the No. 17 overall ranking with Rice and Notre Dame. Harvard and Princeton share the No. 1 ranking.

The School of Engineering shares the No. 34 overall ranking with Yale, University of Virginia, University of Florida and the University of Colorado-Boulder. MIT and Stanford share the No. 1 ranking.

Over the past eight years the School of Engineering has climbed from No. 53 to No. 34. This is the greatest upward progression of any engineering school in the top 50.

Among undergraduate engineering specialties, biomedical engineering rose two spots to No. 16.

“It’s always gratifying to be recognized by our peers,” said Philippe Fauchet, dean of the School of Engineering. “While rankings are only one measure of a program’s accomplishments, they do acknowledge our solid reputation and our success in undergraduate engineering education.”

U.S. News ranks undergraduate engineering programs accredited by ABET (formerly known as Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology). The rankings are based solely on a survey of engineering deans and senior faculty at all accredited programs, conducted during the spring of 2012.  Fifty-four percent of those surveyed for the doctorate group returned ratings.

Full rankings will be available Sept. 18 in the Best Colleges 2013 guidebook, published by U.S. News & World Report.