CU graduate programs among the nation’s best

The University of Colorado’s four campuses earned high marks in new lists of graduate programs compiled by U.S. News & World Report, which annually spotlights the nation’s best research and teaching.

U.S. News ranks programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine, nursing and more. Rankings are based on expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. 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.

Below is a sampling of CU’s rankings from the 2019 edition of Best Graduate Schools (U.S. News Media Group), as made available in advance by U.S. News. Some rankings include ties with other institutions:

University of Colorado Boulder

• Top 10: CU Boulder ranks second nationally for atomic/molecular/optical physics. It also is ranked for environmental law (fifth), quantum physics (sixth) and physical chemistry (10th).
• Many more CU Boulder schools and programs hold places on the national rankings within their fields: aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering (12), applied math (14), education policy (14), physics (14), clinical psychology (16), audiology (17), chemical engineering (17), environmental engineering/environmental health engineering (17), earth sciences (19), civil engineering (23), chemistry (24), speech-language pathology (24), psychology (26), School of Education (29), College of Engineering and Applied Science (32), intellectual property law (32), biology (33), electrical/electric/communications engineering (35), English (35), mechanical engineering (35), computer engineering (36), history (38), computer science (40), political science (40), sociology (42), Law School (46), materials engineering (46), mathematics (47), economics (50) and Leeds School of Business (51 for part-time MBA schools; 65 for full-time MBA schools). Not all disciplines are ranked by the publication.

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

School of Medicine

• Top 10: The school ranks fourth for pediatrics, ninth for primary care.
• The school ranks 32nd overall for research.

College of Nursing

• The college’s doctor of nursing practice is 36th; nursing master’s degree, 46th. The specialty of nurse practitioner (pediatric and primary care) ranks 12th.

Colorado School of Public Health

• The school is ranked 31st overall. For the first time, biostatistics and informatics is ranked (74). 

University of Colorado Denver

• CU Denver schools and programs that are ranked include the School of Public Affairs (34), biomedical engineering (78), the Business School’s part-time MBA program (78), statistics (83), biology (98), civil engineering (107), mathematics (117), the School of Education and Human Development (124), engineering (140) and electrical engineering (144).

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

• At UCCS, the nursing master’s degree at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences ranks 46th; the doctorate of nursing practice, 61st. Further rankings include the part-time MBA (82), clinical psychology (102), public affairs (123), physics (124), education (144) and psychology (148).

The U.S. News data come from statistical surveys sent to administrators at more than 2,012 graduate programs and from reputation surveys sent to more than 20,500 academics and professionals in the disciplines. Surveys were conducted during the fall of 2017 and in early 2018. The Best Graduate Schools 2019 guidebook may be pre-ordered online.