April 2, 2004

Staff Report

At a time when fiscal and budgetary uncertainty is the norm in public higher education, five of the University of Virginia's graduate schools continue to be ranked among the best in the nation, according to the latest U.S. News & Word Report annual rankings of graduate schools and programs, which were released today.

While there were no significant changes overall, four U.Va. schools landed in the top 25 — including, for the first time, the School of Medicine, which moved up two notches to No. 25. The Law School, consistently ranked in the top 10, was ninth for the second year in a row. The Darden School moved from 11 to 12, the Curry School from 21 to 20, and the School of Engineering from 38 to 42.

Recently, many in academic circles have criticized the much-anticipated and highly publicized rankings, believing them to be an artificial measure of success, and arguing that too much emphasis has been placed on them by potential applicants. Several years ago, the love-hate relationship with the rankings spurred some in academia to launch an alternative ranking system, but it failed to gain momentum.

Law School dean John C. Jeffries calls the emphasis on rankings regrettable. "For certain technical reasons, the U.S. News rankings are tough on public universities, but more fundamentally the business of ranking is misguided. If I grade the papers in a class or seminar and identify a group of superior performers, I give them all A's. That's a reasonable way to describe the results of the exam," Jeffries said. "If I had to rank them numerically, very small -- indeed, insignificant -- differences in performance are translated into very large differences in rank. In short, rankings are good for publicity but not for decisions."

That said, when a school shows well in the rankings, deans and faculty are often pleased, knowing that the rankings draw attention to an institution and can enhance its reputation in the eyes of prospective students, donors and academic peers.

Added Jeffries: "The Law School is not satisfied to be ranked ninth in the nation. We want to be the best in the nation, and we think that in some ways, we already are."
At the School of Medicine, Dr. Arthur "Tim" Garson Jr., vice president and dean, saw reason to celebrate the news and credited the dedication of his faculty and staff. "Through their efforts we have moved into the ranks of the top 25 research schools for the first time."

Gordon F. Rainey Jr., the University's rector, views the rankings as good news, and like Garson, said he believes that University employees deserve high praise. "The consistently high rankings achieved by our graduate schools are a tribute to the hard work of all members of the U.Va. community," he said. "Their commitment ensures the superior quality of the University's educational experience."

While U.S. News does not rank every graduate school or graduate program every year, the University also had several areas of excellence recognized. The Law School's international law program was ranked No. 7, as was the Darden School's management program. The Curry School's special education program came in at No. 4, its secondary education program at No. 10. The School of Medicine ranked No. 31 in primary care programs.

In August, U.Va. was ranked the No. 1 public university (in a tie with the University of California-Berkeley), and No. 21 among all universities in the U.S. News’ annual rankings of America’s Best Colleges.

Additional rankings will be available on line today at the 2005 edition of U.S. News' "America's Best Graduate Schools" Web site at www.usnews.com.

2005 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings

School of Law

2005: No. 9

2004: No. 9

Intellectual Property Law
2005: (We currently only have numbers in the top 20 for this category.) 

2002: No. 21

International Law
2005: No. 7

2004: No. 9

Tax Law
2005: No. 16

2002: No. 8

School of Medicine

Research
2005: No. 25
(tied with University of Alabama-Birmingham & University of Wisconsin-Madison)

2004: No. 27

Family Medicine
2005: No. 26
(tied with East Tennessee State University, University of California - Los Angeles, University of Vermont, Wright State University)

Internal Medicine
2005: No. 26
(tied with University of Iowa)

2002: No. 26

Primary Care
2005: No. 31
(tied with Case Western Reserve University, Medical College of Georgia, University of Pittsburgh, University of Utah)

2004: No. 26
(tied with Baylor College of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School)

Darden Graduate School of Business Administration

2005: No. 12
2004: No. 11

Accounting
2005: No. 30
(tied with Texas A&M University - College Station)

Entrepreneurship
2005: No. 16
(tied with Ball State University, Indiana University - Bloomington, University of Maryland - College Park)

2002: No. 13

Finance
2005: No. 17
(tied with Dartmouth College)

2002: No. 20

Management
2005: No. 7
2004: No. 7

Marketing
2005: No. 19
(tied with UNC - Chapel Hill)
2002: No. 17

Non-Profit
2005: No. 11
2002: No. 12

Curry School of Education

2005: No. 20
(tied with the University of Maryland - College Park)

2004: No. 21
(tied with the University of Maryland - College Park)

Administration & Supervision
2005: No. 22
(tied with Arizona State University, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill)
2002: No. 16

Counseling/Personnel Services
2005: No. 18
(tied with Iowa State University, Stanford University, University of North Texas)

2001: No. 11

Curriculum Instruction
2005: No. 14
(tied with Penn State University - University Park)

2002: No. 12

Education Policy
2005: (We currently only have numbers in the top 20 for this category.)
2002: 19th

Elementary Education
2005: No. 11
(tied with University of Minnesota - Twin Cities)

2004: No. 8
(tied with Indiana University - Bloomington)

Higher Education Administration
2005: No. 22
(tied with Texas A&M - College Station, University of California - Berkeley)

Secondary Education
2005: No. 10

2004: No. 8

Special Education
2005: No. 4

2004: No. 5
(tied with University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland - College Park)

School of Engineering

2005: No. 42
(tied with Dartmouth College, Rutgers State University - New Brunswick, University of California - Irvine)

2004: No. 38
(tied with Case Western Reserve University, Iowa State University)

Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical
2005: No. 28
(tied with North Carolina State University, University of Arizona)

Biomedical
2005: No. 18
(tied with Columbia University)
2002: No. 15

Chemical
2005: No. 29
(tied with Iowa State University, Johns Hopkins University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Massachusetts-Amherst)
1999: No. 23

Civil
2005: No. 38
(tied with Michigan State University , University of Arizona)

Computer
2005: No. 34
(tied with Arizona State University)
Electrical/Electronic/Communications

2005: No. 39
(tied with Iowa State University, University of California - Davis, University of Notre Dame)

Materials
2005: No. 23
(tied with University of California - Los Angeles, University of California - San Diego, University of Maryland - College Park, University of Texas - Austin)

Mechanical
2005: No. 44
(tied with Iowa State University, Michigan Technological University, University of Colorado - Boulder)

Health Disciplines

Clinical Psychology - Doctorate
2005: No. 15
(tied with SUNY - Stony Brook, University of Colorado - Boulder, University of Iowa, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor)

2002: No. 9
(tied with SUNY - Stony Brook, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign)

Speech Language Pathology - Masters
2005: No. 50
(tied with Auburn University, Bowling Green State University, Kent State University, Miami University - Oxford, Northern Illinois University, St. Louis University, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, University of Oregon, University of Utah, University of Vermont, Wayne State University)

The following disciplines were ranked in previous years, but were not updated for 2005:

Architecture
Fine Arts
Library Science
Nursing / Nursing Specialties
The Sciences
Social Sciences & Humanities