Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development is the best graduate school of its kind in the nation, according to rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.
Vanderbilt University’s schools of medicine, law, business and engineering are also ranked in the graduate school listings in the April 28 issue of the magazine, along with Vanderbilt programs in history, English and psychology. The No. 1 ranking for Peabody is the highest ranking of a Vanderbilt graduate or professional school in the history of the U.S. News & World Report rankings.
“We are very pleased by this ranking, which speaks to the high quality of the college and especially our faculty, our students and our staff,” said Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Peabody. “Along with our alumni, who do great work in the world, they are the ones to be congratulated.”
The annual graduate school rankings were released by U.S. News & World Report Thursday. They are based on expert opinions about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. More than 1,200 programs were considered by about 11,000 academics and professionals.
Peabody moved up one spot from its No. 2 ranking last year, and now sits atop a list boasting Stanford, Columbia, Harvard and Johns Hopkins in the Top 10. In addition to the overall ranking, Peabody’s programs in special education and administration/supervision were each ranked No. 1. Peabody’s educational policy and elementary education programs each ranked No. 5, its educational psychology program was No. 7 and higher education administration No. 8.
“We measure our own success by the knowledge we discover; our support for practitioners; the leaders we prepare for classrooms, universities and other organizations; and our engagement with the world around us,” Benbow said. “Our goal is to change lives through education and human development, and we do that very effectively.”
Vanderbilt School of Medicine improved one slot in the rankings to No. 15 and a tie with the University of California-San Diego. The category was headed by Harvard, and Vanderbilt came out ahead of Cornell, Northwestern and Baylor.
“Vanderbilt has a stellar, highly innovative environment for medical education,” said Dr. Jeff Balser, dean of the School of Medicine and associate vice chancellor for health affairs. “We have the very best students and faculty and an unparalleled reputation for collegiality. This ranking confirms what we’ve always known: Vanderbilt is one of our country’s greatest medical schools.”
Vanderbilt Law School ranked No. 17 in its category, between the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Southern California in the rankings led by Yale.
For the first time in several years, the magazine ranked arts and humanities programs. Three departments in the College of Arts and Science were ranked: history at No. 26, and psychology and English each at No. 29. The Vanderbilt English Department was ranked No. 5 in the African American literature category.
The Vanderbilt Owen School of Management jumped 11 positions from No. 44 in 2008 to No. 33.
“Since 2004, we have significantly strengthened Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management intellectual capital with the addition of many distinguished faculty members from outstanding universities,” said Jim Bradford, dean and Ralph Owen Professor of the Practice of Management. “We now offer six degreed graduate programs plus non-degreed executive education. It’s rewarding to see these efforts recognized by those outside of our immediate community.”
The School of Engineering ranked No. 39, up from No. 42 last year, placing Vanderbilt ahead of Yale and Washington University in St. Louis.
“We believe the graduate experience our students enjoy at Vanderbilt is among the best anywhere. We’re diligent about improving that experience and this is one indication that tells us we are succeeding,” said Engineering Dean Kenneth F. Galloway.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu