CU boasts top-ranked graduate programs

Graduate programs across the University of Colorado system again are lauded for excellence in the latest annual rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Research and teaching contributions by the four campuses in health care, engineering, law, education and business hold numerous spots in the 2015 edition of Best Graduate Schools (U.S. News Media Group).

A sampling of CU’s 2015 rankings:

University of Colorado Boulder

• No. 1: CU-Boulder’s atomic/molecular/optical physics program holds the top spot nationally.
• Top 10: Other CU-Boulder programs ranking in the top 10 are aerospace engineering (ninth) and environmental law (ninth).
• Many other CU-Boulder schools and programs hold places on the national rankings within their fields: education policy (13), chemical engineering (14), civil engineering (15), physics (18), clinical psychology (18), environmental engineering (21), earth sciences (23), chemistry (24), speech-language pathology (25), audiology (27), School of Education (29), psychology (30), biological sciences (30), College of Engineering and Applied Science (34), electrical engineering (34), mechanical engineering (34), Leeds School of Business (39 for part-time MBA schools), computer engineering (39), computer science (40), Law School (43), political science (45), sociology (46), mathematics (46), online graduate engineering program (49), English (50), history (50), economics (53) and fine arts (53) and the Leeds School of Business (80).  Not all disciplines are ranked by the publication.

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

School of Medicine

• The school ranks 13th nationally for primary care, with the specialties of family medicine (fifth), pediatrics (sixth) and rural medicine (ninth) also ranking high.
• The School of Medicine ranks 40th overall for research.

University of Colorado Denver

• The School of Public Affairs, with programs at CU Denver and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, is listed at 29 nationally.
• The Department of Integrative Biology (Biological Sciences Ph.D. program) is 75.
• The School of Education and Human Development is ranked at 98. The online program is listed at 29. (The online nursing program is No. 10.)
• The Business School’s part-time MBA program is ranked at 101.

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

UCCS shares the School of Public Affairs (29) honor with CU Denver. Three online graduate degree programs also are ranked: engineering (40), nursing (52) and business (82).

The 2015 Best Graduate Schools includes essential, detailed statistical information on more than 1,250 programs nationwide, with rankings in five of the largest professional graduate school disciplines (business, law, education, engineering, and medicine), as well as part-time MBA and part-time law school programs. The “Best Graduate Schools 2015” guidebook will be available at usnews.com/store in late March and on newsstands April 8, 2014.

Rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinions about program quality, and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students. These data come from surveys of more than 13,000 academics and professionals. The publication aims to provide a tool to students and parents who are comparing college programs at accredited public and private universities in the United States.