UArizona Graduate Programs Get Top Rankings

The University of Arizona is home to many of the nation’s strongest graduate programs, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The publication’s annual Best Graduate Schools list, released March 30, again ranked the Eller College of Management‘s program in management information systems No. 1 among public universities and No. 3 overall, behind only Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Also in Eller, the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship ranked No. 21 overall (No. 7 among public universities) and the Dhaliwal-Reidy School of Accountancy ranked No. 28 overall (No. 12 among public universities). Eller’s business analytics program tied for No. 21 overall and its economics program ranked No. 40 overall, while its part-time MBA program placed No. 51 overall and its full-time MBA program tied for No. 64 overall.

UArizona’s graduate program in Latin American history tied for No. 10 overall and tied at No. 5 among public universities. The Department of History tied for No. 54 overall.

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson earned its best ranking on the U.S. News & World Report diversity index (tied for No. 17 overall and tied for No. 13 among public universities). U.S. News & World Report also ranks colleges and universities by the percentage of 2012-14 graduates practicing direct patient care in geographic regions experiencing shortages in health professionals. The College of Medicine – Tucson ranked No. 29 in this category, and the College of Medicine – Phoenix tied for No. 53. The colleges also secured solid placements in the number of 2012-14 graduates who are now practicing as primary care physicians (tied for No. 54 overall for the College of Medicine – Tucson and No. 87 for the College of Medicine – Phoenix).

Also representing UArizona Health Sciences are the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (tied for No. 41) and the College of Medicine – Tucson’s programs in primary care (No. 58), rural health (No. 63) and research (tied for No. 70). The College of Nursing tied for No. 33 in doctoral programs and tied for No. 39 in master’s programs on the annual Best Nursing Schools list.

The College of Education earned another top-20 showing in higher education administration (No. 18 overall, No. 13 public), and the college saw a 14-point jump in its overall ranking (No. 59). UArizona also secured top-30 rankings for the School of Sociology (No. 26 overall, No. 13 public) and its program in library and information science (No. 27 overall, No. 24 public).

“It is gratifying to see our graduate programs rightfully recognized alongside the very best in the nation,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. “Graduate students are essential to many of our research and teaching programs, and it is important for them to know that when they receive a University of Arizona education, they are part of programs that are among the best in scholarship, teaching and career preparation.”

The School of Government and Public Policy, housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, tied for No. 38 on the list of public affairs programs, with a subspecialty in public management/leadership (tied at No. 38) also earning recognition. UArizona also tied for No. 50 for its doctoral program in political science.

The Department of English‘s graduate program, also in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, tied for No. 69 overall.

The James E. Rogers College of Law tied for No. 46 on the Best Law Schools ranking. The following specialties also earned places on the U.S. News list:

• Legal writing (tied at No. 21)
• Environmental law (tied at No. 32)
• International law (tied at No. 35)
• Constitutional law (tied at No. 35)
• Criminal law (tied at No. 40)
• Health care law (tied at No. 45)
• Business/corporate law (tied at No. 52)
• Contracts/commercial law (tied at No. 56)
• Tax law (tied at No. 60)
• Clinical training (tied at No. 64)
• Trial advocacy (tied at No. 67)
• Intellectual property (tied at No. 75)
• Dispute resolution (tied at No. 77)

The College of Engineering tied for No. 62 on the Best Engineering Schools list, with solid marks in the following subspecialties:

• Agricultural (tied at No. 21)
• Industrial/manufacturing/systems (tied at No. 23)
• Environmental (tied at No. 28)
• Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (tied at No. 33)
• Civil (tied at No. 42)
• Computer (tied at No. 45)
• Mechanical (tied at No. 49)
• Electrical/electronic/communications (tied at No. 50)
• Material (tied at No. 50)
• Biomedical/bioengineering (tied at No. 57)
• Chemical (tied at No. 60)

Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks schools and programs in business, education, engineering, law, nursing and medicine. The rankings in these six areas are based on expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students.

Beyond the six disciplines ranked annually, U.S. News also periodically ranks programs in the sciences, social sciences, library sciences, humanities, health and many other areas based solely on the ratings of academic experts.

A number of other UArizona graduate programs appear on the U.S. News list, but their rankings were not subject to review in 2021. In last year’s update, UArizona earned top-10 placements in photography (tied for No. 3 overall, No. 2 among public universities), speech language pathology (tied for No. 6 overall, No. 3 public) and audiology (tied for No. 10 overall, No. 6 public). Previous updates also list UArizona at No. 3 overall in geology, No. 4 overall in rehabilitation counseling and No. 8 overall in Earth sciences.

For a full list of rankings, visit https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools.