Baylor Graduate Programs Rated Highly By U.S.News & World Report

by Alan Hunt

A number of Baylor University's graduate programs get high marks in U.S.News & World Report's "2004 Best Graduate School" rankings, released April 4. Included in the magazine's "top" categories are Baylor's law, business, nursing, education, clinical psychology, speech-language pathology and other health-related programs, including two Baylor-U.S. Army programs operated at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio.

Baylor Law School

Baylor Law School's trial advocacy program is ranked 11th in the nation, up five spots from last year's ranking. Overall, Baylor Law School is ranked 51st by U.S. News in its "Top 100 Schools" category. The magazine evaluated 177 accredited law schools nationwide, using 12 "measures of quality."
Baylor Law School's bar exam success rate is listed as 96.1 percent in the rankings criteria - the highest figure among the eight Texas law schools ranked. Baylor also has the second highest percentage (97.1 percent) among Texas law schools of graduates employed nine months after graduation.
Only three other Texas law schools, University of Texas, Southern Methodist University and the University of Houston, join Baylor Law School in the "Top 100" classification. Four other Texas law schools are listed in the magazine's fourth tier rankings.
"We are pleased to be among the top law schools in the nation," said Brad Toben, law school dean. "I fully expect that Baylor Law School will achieve an even higher profile in the future. We are distinctive and we are focused upon educating and training our students to be genuine professionals. Our students really know what lawyering is and know how to do it right."

Hankamer School of Business

The Executive MBA program at Baylor's Hankamer School of Business is ranked by U.S. News at 21st in the nation, tying with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for that position. Baylor's Executive MBA (EMBA) program in Dallas also was highly ranked this year in the prestigious Financial Times rankings of the world's best EMBA programs, capturing the rank of #25 when measured against all other EMBA programs in the world. It achieved Financial Times' #14 ranking in the United States, and #1 in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. Baylor's EMBA program also serves Waco and Austin.
"It's no surprise that the Baylor Executive MBA program has gotten so much attention from the media and in the rankings recently," said Dr. Terry Maness, dean of the business school. "Because the program incorporates innovative ideas, theoretical advances and real-world experiences in a balanced approach to executive education, this dynamic environment cultivates the managerial dexterity to meet today's real business challenges."
Hankamer's entrepreneurship program also is highly ranked by U.S. News at 23rd in the nation. Baylor's entrepreneurship center, launched in 1977, was among the first to be introduced at an American university and the school enjoys wide acclaim for the excellence of its entrepreneurship program. Baylor also was recently named as one of the Best Universities for Entrepreneurs in the April 2003 issue of Entrepreneur magazine.
"A major emphasis of the Baylor Entrepreneurship program involves contact with successful, practicing entrepreneurs and on-site business consulting," Maness said. "This enhances the quality of the program, which was recognized as Tier One by Entrepreneur magazine."

Louise Herrington School of Nursing

The master's degree program at Baylor's Dallas-based Louise Herrington School of Nursing is rated 58th in the latest U.S. News graduate rankings. Nursing schools nationwide were evaluated, based on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, faculty and other administrators, who were asked to rate the academic quality at accredited degree programs or schools. In the magazine's previous nursing school rankings completed in 2000, Baylor was listed at 59th nationwide.
"I am gratified that the Louise Herrington School of Nursing has been recognized for our excellent program," said Dr. Judy Wright Lott, dean of the nursing school. "We have an outstanding teaching and research faculty, a dynamic curriculum and outstanding professional and clinical resources. We are expanding our programs, so I expect to see the nursing school continue to move up in the rankings."

School of Education

Included in the publication's "Top Education Schools" category is Baylor's School of Education, which is ranked at 63rd in a newly completed survey of the nation's education schools. This is the first U.S. News ranking for the School of Education.
"We are pleased to have the hard work and new initiatives in the School of Education acknowledged in the U.S.News and World Report rankings," said Dr. Robert J. Yinger, dean of the School of Education. "Our colleagues around the country are beginning to recognize the leadership that the Baylor School of Education is demonstrating in graduate and undergraduate programs, faculty scholarship and national involvement."

Academy of Health Sciences

In another new ranking, the joint Baylor-U.S. Army master's program in health services administration is rated 20th, up six places from last year's ranking. This program is operated at the Academy of Health Sciences at San Antonio's Fort Sam Houston for students from the armed forces. Another joint Baylor-U.S. Army program - the master of physical therapy degree at Fort Sam Houston - is ranked 13th nationwide by the magazine. This program survey was completed in 2000.

Other Baylor Programs

Other Baylor programs are featured in the U.S. News graduate listings, based on rankings completed in previous years. Baylor's speech-language pathology program is ranked 46th in the nation in a survey completed in 2000, and Baylor's doctoral program in clinical psychology (PsyD) is rated 82nd, based on a ranking of nationwide programs in 2001. The PsyD program, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association, is one of only two PsyD programs in the country included in the rankings; all of the others are PhD programs.
U.S. News first published a reputation-only graduate school ranking in 1987. The annual "America's Best Graduate Schools" report began in 1990. The U.S. News rankings can be found at www.usnews.com.