AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin has more than 40 graduate programs ranked among the top 10 in the nation and four programs ranked No. 1, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 edition of “Best Graduate Schools,” released this morning.
The university has top 10 programs in 12 of its colleges and schools including such disciplines as business, communication, education, engineering, Earth sciences, humanities, information, law, natural sciences, pharmacy, social work, and the social sciences.
U.S. News & World Report’s graduate rankings, separate from the magazine’s yearly ranking of undergraduate programs, are among the most widely regarded ratings in higher education. They are based on surveys of academic leaders and, for select programs, additional quantitative measures including placement test scores, student/faculty ratios, research expenditures and job placement success.
The four programs ranked No. 1 in the nation are accounting in the McCombs School of Business, petroleum engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering, Latin American history and Sociology of Population, both in the College of Liberal Arts. All four No. 1 rankings were updated this year. (U.S. News & World Report does not update every discipline in every year).
Also updated this year: the Cockrell School of Engineering ranks No. 9 nationally (No. 5 among public universities) and has seven specializations in the top 10. The School of Information is ranked No. 5 nationally (No. 4 among publics) for Library & Information Studies, with four top 10 specialty areas. The College of Education ranks No. 11 nationally (No. 4 among publics), with four specializations in the top 10.
The McCombs School of Business MBA program ranks No. 17 nationally (No. 5 among publics), with four specializations in the top 10. The School of Law ranks No. 14 nationally (No. 4 among publics), the School of Nursing ranks No. 23 (No. 13 among publics), and UT Austin ranks No. 8 for psychology (No. 5 among publics).
Several other graduate schools at UT Austin remain nationally ranked in the top 10, according to U.S. News & World Report data from 2013-2016 that was not revised this year. The College of Pharmacy ranks No. 3. The School of Social Work remains No. 7 (No. 4 among publics). The Jackson School of Geosciences remains No. 8 for Earth sciences (No. 4 among publics). Computer science ranks No. 9 (No. 4 among publics).
UT Austin’s Dell Medical School is too new to be ranked, but in addition to nursing and pharmacy, the university scored top ratings in several other health disciplines when they were updated in 2016, including speech-language pathology in the Moody College of Communication (No. 7) and clinical psychology (No. 8) in the College of Liberal Arts.
“These rankings show, once again, that students at UT Austin learn from and collaborate with our exceptional faculty in all disciplines,” said President Gregory L. Fenves. “The university’s depth, breadth and scale of expertise makes it an engine for innovation, in which scholars work across disciplines to make new discoveries and solve challenging problems that change lives in Texas, the United States and the world.”
The top rankings for graduate programs are consistent with other rankings for UT Austin, which has been named the 13th best value among public colleges (Kiplinger, 2016) and the 17th most productive university in the world for scientific research (Nature Index, December 2016). UT Austin has maintained these levels of excellence and improved in many rankings despite cuts in state support during the past decade.
UT Austin graduate schools and programs that U.S. News & World Report ranked in the top 30 are listed below. An asterisk indicates a ranking that is based on earlier data and was not revised this year. These rankings are drawn from early figures released by U.S. News & World Report and could grow when fuller lists are published. Check utexas.edu/news for the most up-to-date lists:
Professional Schools
- Business – 17
- Accounting – 1
- Entrepreneurship – 9
- Finance – 14
- Information Systems – 3
- Management – 12
- Marketing – 13
- Production/Operations – 13
- Supply Chain/Logistics – 15
- Executive MBA – 19
- Part-Time MBA – 10
- Education – 11
- Administration/Supervision – 6
- Curriculum/Instruction – 8
- Education Policy – 16
- Educational Psychology – 8
- Elementary Teacher Education – 12
- Secondary Teacher Education – 11
- Special Education – 5
- Engineering – 9
- Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical – 8
- Biomedical/Bioengineering – 18
- Chemical – 6
- Civil – 4
- Computer – 7
- Electrical/Electronic/Communications – 8
- Environmental/Environmental Health – 4
- Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems – 17
- Mechanical – 11
- Petroleum Engineering – 1
- Health Disciplines (other than Nursing)
- Audiology – 13*
- Clinical Psychology – 8*
- Pharmacy (UT Austin’s College of Pharmacy) – 3*
- Social Work (UT Austin’s School of Social Work) – 7*
- Speech-Language Pathology – 7*
- Law – 14
- Intellectual Property Law – 24
- International Law – 18
- Tax Law – 12
- Library and Information Studies Schools (UT Austin’s School of Information) – 5
- Archives and Preservation – 2
- Digital Librarianship – 5
- Information Systems – 10
- Law Librarianship – 2
- Nursing – 23
- Public Affairs – 11*
- Information and Technology Management – 7*
- Nonprofit Management – 17*
- Public Finance and Budgeting – 27*
- Public Management Administration – 19*
- Public Policy Analysis – 12*
- Social Policy – 16*
The Sciences
- Biological Sciences – 30*
- Ecology/Evolutionary Biology – 7*
- Chemistry – 12*
- Analytical – 4*
- Organic – 13*
- Theoretical – 12*
- Computer Science – 9*
- Artificial Intelligence – 7*
- Programming Language – 8*
- Systems – 8*
- Theory – 10*
- Earth Sciences (UT Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences) – 8*
- Geology – 5*
- Mathematics – 14*
- Analysis – 8*
- Applied Math – 10*
- Topology – 8*
- Physics – 14*
- Atomic/Molecular/Optical – 14*
- Cosmology/Relativity/Gravity – 9*
- Plasma – 3*
Social Sciences and Humanities
- Economics – 27
- English – 20
- History – 16
- Latin American History – 1
- Political Science – 19
- Psychology – 8
- Sociology – 11
- Sociology of Population – 1
- Sex and Gender – 8
Fine Arts – 27*
- Sculpture – 7*
*Ranking not revised for 2017. Based on latest ranking available.
