Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of education and human development is the second-ranked education school in the nation, according to the latest rankings of graduate and professional schools by U.S. News & World Report.
In other rankings released on Friday, gains were made by Vanderbilt Law School and the research program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“It is clear that Vanderbilt’s graduate and professional programs are recognized as among the best in the country,” said Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos. “We can point with pride to the many factors that make this possible, chief among them the quality and accomplishments of our faculty and students. That is the heart of a great university.”
The annual rankings by the magazine moved Peabody from a tie with Harvard last year for third place to sole possession of the No. 2 slot behind Stanford University.
“Peabody’s elevation to No. 2 is very gratifying,” said Camilla Benbow, the Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Peabody. “More importantly, it reflects the outstanding efforts of our faculty and students who are inspired to address the thorniest problems in education. We have an obligation to contribute as much as we can to helping all learners be successful, and the new ranking suggests that we are meeting that obligation.”
Vanderbilt Law School moved up a notch to No. 15 after tying for 16th last year.
“Excellence in legal scholarship and education, rather than our position in the rankings, will continue to be our primary focus,” said Ed Rubin, dean of Vanderbilt Law School. “Nonetheless, this is a good occasion to congratulate our staff, our students and our faculty on their extraordinary efforts and accomplishments.”
The research program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center moved up two spots to tie at No. 16 with the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago.
“Our rise in these rankings is a direct reflection of the strength of our students and faculty, our superb environment for education, patient care and research, our highly respected residency programs and our growth in National Institutes of Health research funding,” said Dr. Steven Gabbe, dean of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine.
In addition to ranking individual schools, the magazine looked at fields of specialty for each school.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s speech pathology program tied for No. 5, up from No. 6 in 2004, and audiology retained the No. 1 ranking it first earned in 2004.
“We’ve received tremendous support from the leadership of the medical center, we have a wonderful facility and tremendous people that work here,” said Dr. Fred Bess, professor of audiology and chair of the department. “We’re glad to have this affirmation of our work.”
The Vanderbilt School of Engineering held steady, tying again at 42. Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management tied for No. 44 in the business school category.
Peabody was ranked the best in the nation for administration/supervision programs, No. 2 for special education, No. 4 for education policy, No. 5 for elementary education, No. 8 for higher education administration, No. 9 for educational psychology and No. 10 for both curriculum/instruction and secondary education.
Media Contact: Jim Patterson,(615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu