Sixteen University of Colorado at Boulder graduate specialty programs were rated in the top 50 nationally in U.S. News & World Report's newly released America's Best Graduate Schools 2007.
Five CU-Boulder graduate specialty programs were rated in the top 10 nationally in results released March 31. An additional six programs were rated in the top 20 and five others in the top 50 in the complete rankings released later that day, for a total of 16 in the top 50.
CU-Boulder and other universities and colleges with doctoral programs in law, engineering, business, education, library and information studies, biological sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, computer science, mathematics, physics, medicine and several health fields were ranked in 2006. Not ranked by the magazine this year were disciplines that include psychology, English, economics, music, journalism, history, sociology and political science.
The additional graduate specialty programs in the top 20 in the nation were biochemistry (12th), aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering (tied for 13th), business entrepreneurship (tied for 17th), geology (tied for 18th), chemical engineering (tied for 18th) and environmental and environmental health engineering (tied for 20th).
Additional graduate specialty programs in the top 50 in the nation were applied math (22nd), civil engineering (tied for 24th), electrical, electronic and communications engineering (tied for 33rd), computer engineering (tied for 39th) and mechanical engineering (tied for 42nd).
The previously released specialty rankings in the top 10 were atomic, molecular and optical physics (first), environmental law (ninth), physical chemistry (ninth), plasma physics (tied for 10th) and quantum physics (tied for 10th).
The previously released school and department rankings in the top 50 were physics (tied for 16th), chemistry (tied for 24th), earth sciences (tied for 25th), biological sciences (tied for 28th), engineering (tied for 39th), education tied for (43rd), law (tied for 43rd) and mathematics (tied for 47th).
The rankings are based on "expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students," according to U.S. News & World Report. Magazine editors said they surveyed more than 1,200 programs and nearly 9,600 academics and professionals for the most recent rankings.
The results appeared in the 2007 U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools available at newsstands on April 3.