by Jennifer Donovan, public relations director
Graduate school rankings released today by US News & World Report rank three of Michigan Tech’s graduate engineering programs in the top 50 nationwide. The annual rankings evaluated 198 graduate schools of engineering.
Michigan Tech’s programs ranked as follows:
* environmental engineering: 33
* mechanical engineering: 48
* materials science and engineering: 49
Two other graduate programs at Michigan Tech ranked in the top 100 nationwide, as did the College of Engineering overall. Those rankings include:
* civil engineering: 58
* geological and mining engineering and sciences: 77
* College of Engineering: 82
“Our long-term goal is to advance the reputation of our graduate programs,” said President Glenn D. Mroz. “That is not a timid goal, but we know what we need to do; it is spelled out in our strategic plan. We are laying the groundwork now, and we know it won’t happen overnight. We are competing with the best universities in the US and the world for resources and talented graduate students. But Michigan Tech is becoming more and more competitive.”
Each year, US News & World Report ranks graduate schools of business, education, engineering, law and medicine. According to the magazine, the rankings are based on two kinds of data–the opinions of graduate school deans, program directors, senior faculty and employers of new graduates, and statistical measures such as student-to-faculty ratio, faculty research activity and doctoral degrees awarded.
Engineering specialties are ranked solely on the basis of assessments by department chairs in each specialty. The American Society for Engineering Education recommends the names of department chairs to be surveyed.
The rankings will be featured in the May 2009 issue of US News & World Report. Information is also available at www.usnews.com/grad and www.usnews.com/aboutgrad .