KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s nuclear engineering graduate program is now a top 10 program, according to the U.S. News and World Report 2011 graduate rankings. The program was ranked ninth in the country, rising three spots from last year.
UT’s law, education and logistics programs also were ranked among the best in the nation. Each spring, the magazine ranks graduate programs in a variety of academic disciplines among public and private colleges and universities in the United States.
“Growing and enhancing our graduate programs is a top priority for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville,” said Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “Along with these top-ranked programs, we seek to build upon our other graduate degree and professional programs. We’re improving our opportunities for fellowships and assistantships that will help us attract more graduate students which, in turn, will enhance our creative and scholarly activity and ultimately our economic impact on the local and state economy. Increasing the number of doctoral students we produce is a key element in our becoming a top 25 university.”
College of Engineering Dean Wayne Davis said the college’s latest rankings will help recruit highly qualified candidates for the UT Knoxville-ORNL Graduate Fellowship Program, a new program designed to attract top graduate students in science and engineering.
“In view of the resurgence of interest in the nuclear engineering field, I am pleased to see that our nuclear engineering graduate program was ranked ninth in the country by the U.S. News and World Report,” he said. “We are anticipating a renewed emphasis on graduate student recruiting throughout the College of Engineering with the new UT Knoxville-ORNL Graduate Fellowship Program, and the fact that our nuclear engineering program is one of the best in the country will be a definite asset in attracting high-caliber candidates to UT.”
UT’s College of Engineering’s overall graduate program was ranked 43rd among public universities and 73rd nationally.
UT’s College of Business Administration’s supply chain and logistics graduate program, which has been consistently ranked among the best by U.S. News, was ranked seventh among public universities and 12th nationally.
The College of Law’s clinical training program was ranked seventh among public universities and 18th nationally. The overall law program ranked 29th among all public universities and 60th nationally.
“Our clinical programs represent the best of what we do — training future attorneys through a unique connection between legal theory and practice,” said Douglas Blaze, dean of the College of Law. “We also are proud that the overall law program has been able to maintain its place among the best nationally despite challenges and budget constrictions. We will continue to build on our strengths to improve our standing as one of the best public institutions for training lawyers.”
The College of Education, Health and Human Sciences’ overall graduate program ranked 33rd among public institutions and 47th nationally in the new 2011 report.
Three additional College of Engineering specialty programs were ranked. The college’s civil engineering program ranked 39th among public universities and 58th nationally; the electrical engineering program ranked 38th among public universities and 66th nationally; and the mechanical engineering program ranked 39th among public universities and 67th nationally.
Each year, U.S. News ranks graduate programs in the areas of business, education, engineering, law and medicine. These graduate rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. For the rankings in all five areas, indicator and opinion data come from surveys of more than 1,500 programs and some 12,400 academics and other professionals that were conducted the previous year.
Several other programs are ranked alternately, every four years. Other UT graduate programs that appear in the new report for their most recent rankings include:
- The College of Veterinary Medicine’s graduate program ranked 11th among public universities and 14th nationally in 2007.
- The College of Social Work’s graduate program ranked 15th among public universities and 26th nationally in 2008.
- The School of Art’s MFA in printmaking ranked third among public universities and fourth nationally in 2008; the overall MFA program was ranked 24th among public universities and 50th nationally in 2008.
- The College of Nursing’s graduate program ranked 48th among public universities and 72nd nationally in 2007.
- The College of Allied Health Science’s graduate speech pathology program ranked 25th among public universities and 30th nationally in 2008.
U.S. News ranked UT Knoxville 52nd among public universities and colleges in its list of best schools for undergraduate education in the 2010 report.
The 2011 graduate rankings are now online. U.S. News also will feature the material in its annual America’s Best Graduate Schools guide book.
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C O N T A C T :
Kristi Hintz, khintz@utk.edu, (865) 974-3993