Baylor Programs Ranked in U.S. News Grad School Survey
Baylor University graduate programs in law, health disciplines, business, the sciences and education were among those nationally ranked in the 2009 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools," which was released today (Friday, March 28) by U.S.News & World Report.
Each year, U.S. News ranks professional school programs in business, education, engineering, law and medicine. The 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. The U.S. News data come from surveys conducted in fall 2007 of more than 1,200 programs and some 14,000 academics and professionals.
Baylor Law School
Baylor Law School was ranked No. 55 overall in the magazine's "Top 100 Schools" listing for 2009, along with Florida State University, University of Houston and Yeshiva University.
In the law specialties rankings, Baylor's trial advocacy program rose to eighth best in the nation, ahead of American University, New York University and University of Texas at Austin.
Only three other Texas law schools joined Baylor in the Top 100 list - UT-Austin in 16th place, Southern Methodist University at 46th, and Houston, which tied with Baylor for 55th place in the U.S. News rankings. One Texas law school is ranked in the publication's third tier, and four others are ranked in the fourth tier. Rankings are only given to schools included in the Top 100 Schools category. The third and fourth tiers are listed alphabetically.
Baylor is one of seven Big 12 schools included in the Top 100 Law Schools listing. The others are UT-Austin, the University of Colorado-Boulder (tied for 32nd place with four other law schools), the University of Missouri-Columbia (tied for 59th place with three schools), the University of Oklahoma (tied for 68th place with four other schools), and the University of Kansas and University of Nebraska-Lincoln (tied for 73rd place with two other schools).
The rankings of 184 accredited law schools are based on a weighted average of 12 measures of quality, including quality assessments by deans, faculty, lawyers and judges; selectivity, including median LSAT scores, median undergrad GPA and acceptance rate; placement success; and faculty resources.
Specialty rankings were based solely on votes by law faculty who are listed in the AALS Directory of Law Teachers 2005-2006 as teaching in the field or by directors of clinical and legal writing programs.
Baylor Health Disciplines
Several Baylor graduate programs in the health disciplines were nationally ranked by U.S. News.
The Baylor-U.S. Army master's degree program in physical therapy was ranked fifth nationally in a 2008 survey, tied with the University of Iowa. The Baylor-U.S. Army master's degree program in health administration was ranked the 20th best in the country, along with Duke University, Trinity University, University of Pittsburgh and Yale University.
The Baylor-U.S. Army programs are operated at the Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
Baylor's master's degree program in social work jumped from 87th in 2004 to 60th, along with six other universities.
The university's speech-language pathology program, which was ranked 62nd in the nation in 2004, moved up to 60th, along with 11 other universities
U.S. News ranked the master's degree program in nursing at Baylor's Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas, as 72nd best in the country, tied with 22 other programs.
Baylor's doctoral program in clinical psychology (PsyD) was tied for 83rd along with eight other universities.
Hankamer School of Business
Baylor's Hankamer School of Business was ranked in the top 75 of all 425 master's programs in business accredited by AACSB International. Surveys were conducted in fall 2007 and early 2008 and focused on quality assessment by peers and recruiters, placement success and student selectivity.
Baylor's business school overall moved up two places this year to No. 71 among the 127 top-rated schools with business graduate programs.
The Sciences
Baylor also is featured in the list of "Top Biological Sciences Programs." The university's biological sciences doctoral program is ranked 77th, tied with 11 other schools. The rankings of 165 doctoral programs in the sciences are based on the results of surveys sent to academics in the biological sciences and chemistry in the fall of 2006.
School of Education
U.S. News rated Baylor's School of Education 103rd among the top 278 graduate programs that grant doctoral degrees in education. The schools were surveyed in fall 2007 and early 2008. Rankings are based on a weighted average of the 10 quality measures, such as assessment by peers and superintendents nationwide, student selectivity, faculty resources and research activity.
Baylor's School of Education graduate program was tied with American University, Marquette University, University of Colorado- Denver and University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The program was the third highest-ranked graduate education program in Texas, behind only UT-Austin (No. 10) and Texas A&M University (No. 40).
U.S. News first published a reputation-only graduate school ranking in 1987. The annual "America's Best Graduate Schools" report began in 1990.
Highlights of the graduate school rankings are scheduled for publication in the April 7 edition of U.S.News & World Report magazine, available for newsstand purchase on Monday, March 31. The "America's Best Graduate Schools" guidebook goes on sale Tuesday, April 1.