UArizona MIS, Geology Graduate Programs Earn Top Marks by U.S. News & World Report

By Nick Prevenas, University Communications

Several University of Arizona graduate programs have been recognized among the best in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s latest Best Graduate Schools rankings.

The annual list, released March 29, again ranked the Eller College of Management‘s program in management information systems No. 1 among public universities and No. 3 overall, behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University.

Programs in the UArizona Department of Geosciences also finished among the nation’s best, with its geology subspecialty placing No. 2 overall behind the University of Texas. UArizona’s doctoral program in Earth sciences tied for No. 9 overall and tied for No. 5 among public universities. Subspecialties in geochemistry (tied for No. 6 overall, tied for No. 4 among public universities) and geophysics/seismology (tied for No. 12 overall, tied for No. 8 among public universities) also earned top marks.

“It is satisfying to see so many our graduate programs rightfully recognized among the nation’s best,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. “Graduate students are invaluable contributors to many of our research and teaching programs. Those who choose to attend the University of Arizona take part in programs that excel in scholarship, teaching and career preparation.”

The McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship tied for No. 23 overall and tied for No. 6 among public universities. Eller’s business analytics program tied for No. 31 overall, and its economics program was ranked No. 38 overall, while the part-time MBA program tied for No. 43 overall and the full-time MBA program tied for No. 47 overall – a 17-spot increase over last year’s ranking.

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson earned its best ranking on the U.S. News & World Report diversity index (tied for No. 16 overall and tied for No. 12 among public universities).

U.S. News & World Report also ranks colleges and universities by the percentage of 2013-15 graduates practicing direct patient care in geographic regions that are experiencing health professional shortages. The College of Medicine – Tucson tied for No. 27 in this category, and the College of Medicine – Phoenix was ranked No. 65. The colleges also secured strong placements in the number of 2013-15 graduates who are now practicing as primary care physicians (tied for No. 96 overall for the College of Medicine – Tucson and ranked No. 132 for the College of Medicine – Phoenix).

Also representing UArizona Health Sciences are the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (tied for No. 31) and the College of Medicine – Tucson’s programs in primary care (No. 78), rural health (No. 86) and research (tied for No. 74). The College of Nursing tied for No. 30 in doctoral programs and tied for No. 34 in master’s programs on the annual Best Nursing Schools list. The biostatistics program in College of Public Health ranked tied for No. 56.

The College of Education earned another top-20 showing in higher education administration (No. 18 overall, No. 10 among public universities), and the college saw a five-spot jump in its overall ranking, to No. 54). 

The School of Government and Public Policy, housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, tied for No. 39 on the list of public affairs programs, with a subspecialty in public management/leadership (No. 31 overall) also earning recognition. 

The James E. Rogers College of Law ranked No. 45 overall on the Best Law Schools list. The following specialties also were ranked:

• Legal writing (tied for No. 13 overall and tied for No. 7 among public universities)
• Environmental law (tied for No. 31)
• Constitutional law (tied for No. 40)
• Health care law (tied for No. 40)
• International law (tied for No. 42)
• Business/corporate law (tied for No. 44)
• Trial advocacy (tied for No. 52)
• Criminal law (tied for No. 53)
• Contracts/commercial law (tied for No. 53)
• Clinical training (tied for No. 64)
• Intellectual property (tied for No. 66)
• Tax law (tied for No. 70)
• Dispute resolution (tied for No. 77)

The College of Engineering tied for No. 64 on the Best Engineering Schools list, with solid marks in the following subspecialties:

• Agricultural (tied for No. 20)
• Industrial/manufacturing/systems (tied for No. 21)
• Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical (tied for No. 27)
• Environmental (tied for No. 38)
• Computer (tied for No. 39)
• Electrical/electronic/communications (tied for No. 47)
• Material (tied for No. 49)
• Mechanical (tied for No. 56)
• Civil (tied for No. 57)
• Biomedical/bioengineering (tied for No. 61)
• Chemical (tied for No. 61)

UArizona tied for No. 49 for its graduate program in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, with a No. 13 overall ranking in the analytical chemistry subspecialty. The Department of Psychology tied for No. 35 overall. The Department of Physics tied for No. 41 overall and tied for No. 16 in atomic sciences.

The Department of Computer Science graduate program tied for No. 49. The Department of Mathematicsgraduate program also finished tied for No. 49 overall and tied for No. 21 in applied mathematics. UArizona’s doctoral program in biological sciences tied for No. 50 overall and tied for No. 12 in the ecology subspecialty (tied for No. 5 among public universities).

The statistics and data science graduate interdisciplinary program tied for No. 54 overall.

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.

Several other UArizona graduate programs appear on the U.S. News list, but their rankings were not subject to review this year. In previous updates, 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 among public universities) and audiology (tied for No. 10 overall, No. 6 among public universities). Previous updates also list UArizona at No. 4 overall in rehabilitation counseling and No. 8 overall in Earth sciences.

In last year’s update, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences’ graduate program in Latin American history tied for No. 10 overall and tied at No. 5 among public universities. Also last year, UArizona secured top-30 rankings for the School of Sociology (No. 26 overall, No. 13 among public universities) and the library and information science program (No. 27 overall, No. 24 among public universities). The doctoral program in political science was ranked No. 50. The Department of History‘s graduate program tied for No. 54 overall, and the Department of English‘s graduate program tied for No. 69 overall.

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