A recent report ranked eleven of Ohio State’s graduate programs among the country’s best.
U.S. News & World Report released its annual list of America’s Best Graduate Programs, with Fisher College of Business, the College of Education and Human Ecology, the College of Engineering and the Moritz College of Law all ranking best in Ohio. The College of Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences also made the list.
Eleven of OSU’s specialty programs ranked in the top 10 of their respective fields — part-time masters in business programs, supply chain/logistics, dispute resolution, legal writing, paleontology, administration/supervision, counseling/personnel services, curriculum/instruction, elementary education, secondary education and vocational/technical education.
“These graduate-program rankings confirm the University’s excellence across a broad range of academic endeavors, from K-12 teacher education to law, business and so many other fields,” said OSU President E. Gordon Gee in a press release. “Equally important, however, is what numerical rankings cannot measure: Ohio State’s profound commitment to expanding educational opportunity and improving our communities.”
The Fisher College of Business showed the most improvement, jumping from 26th place last year to 21st this year. However, it fell almost 7 percent from last year to 90.3 percent in the proportion of graduates employed after three months.
Karen Wruck, associate dean for graduate programs at Fisher, said the school’s success comes from a “team effort.”
“We have great students, world-class faculty, terrific staff, wonderful facilities and are part of a great university,” Wruck said in an e-mail. “This is a powerful mix.”
The College of Education and Human Ecology had the most programs represented, with six of its programs ranking in the top 10 of their respective fields. The vocational/technical education program, which has consistently been ranked at the top since the magazine’s survey of graduate programs began, regained the top spot after falling to second last year.
Cheryl Achterberg, dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology, said the school is proud of its consistently high ratings and the fact that the school has jumped three spots among public universities in the last three years. John Ryan, director of assessment for education and human ecology, while also proud of the rankings, said he believes there’s more to the school than just great ratings.
“The U.S. News survey, however, is just one indication of our impact,” Ryan said in an e-mail. “There is much more to what we do, especially our work to solve society’s complex issues that have so much influence on what happens in schools.”
Each year, U.S. News ranks graduate school programs in business, education, engineering, law and medicine. The rankings are calculated from expert opinions on program quality and statistics measuring the quality of the school’s faculty, staff and students.
The magazine added new rankings this year of professional programs in biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, mathematics, physics and statistics, with OSU appearing in all but one of these lists. These rankings were only based on the opinions of academic experts.
Last fall, after U.S. News ranked the best universities in the nation (with OSU ranking 53rd), Gee visited The Lantern newsroom and discussed his distaste for the magazine, calling it “defunct” and saying the magazine survives only because of its ranking issues.
When asked if his feelings for the magazine have changed with these latest rankings, Gee could not be reached for comment.
For a complete list of the rankings, visit grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools, or pick up the latest issue of U.S. News & World Report.
