The University’s graduate programs are among the best in the world, according to the 2012 rankings recently released by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings examined core areas of study as well as several specialized subcategories.
The economics graduate program was ranked the best in the country. In terms of specialized concentrations, the University was ranked 2nd in international economics, 3rd in labor economics and in microeconomics, 4th in public finance, 5th in development economics, in econometrics and in macroeconomics, and 8th in industrial organization.
The University’s graduate programs in history and political science were also ranked 1st in the country.
The University’s graduate history program was ranked 2nd for cultural history, 3rd for Asian history, 4th for European history, 5th for modern U.S. history, 7th for African-American history, 8th for U.S. colonial history and 9th for women’s history.
Its graduate politics program was ranked 1st for international politics, 2nd for comparative politics, 3rd for political theory, 4th for American politics and 5th for political methodology.
The University’s sociology program was ranked 3rd for graduate studies. For specialty areas, it was ranked 1st for sociology of culture, 2nd for economic sociology, 7th for historical sociology, 9th for social stratification and 12th for sociology of population.
The University’s graduate program in the Wilson School was ranked 4th in the country for graduate programs in public affairs. The Wilson School came in at 6th for public policy analysis, 10th for social policy, 11th for health policy and management, and 14th for environmental policy and management.
The graduate program in psychology was ranked 8th nationally. In particular, the department ranked 7th for behavioral neuroscience and for social psychology, and 13th for cognitive psychology.
The University’s English department was ranked 7th in the country, coming in 2nd for African-American literature, 4th for gender and literature studies, 7th for 18th through 20th century British literature, 8th for American literature after 1865 and for Medieval/Renaissance literature, and 9th for American literature before 1865 and for literary criticism and theory.
The University’s graduate program in engineering was ranked 18th in the country. In the specialty program rankings, the University placed 6th in chemical engineering, 7th in the aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering category, 10th in computer engineering and in mechanical engineering.
In the field of biological sciences, the University’s graduate program ranked 7th overall. It also ranked at 9th in ecology/evolutionary biology, 10th in genetics/genomics/bioinformatics and in molecular biology.
The University came in at 16th for chemistry graduate programs and, specifically, 13th for organic chemistry, 14th for physical chemistry and 11th for theoretical chemistry.
The computer science program at the University was ranked 8th in the country. It was ranked 4th for theory, 7th for programming language, 13th for systems.
In earth sciences, the University was ranked 9th for general studies, 15th for geochemistry, and 7th for geophysics and seismology.
The University also ranked highly in mathematics, coming in 2nd. The graduate program was also ranked 2nd for algebra/number theory/algebraic geometry, 3rd for discrete mathematics and combinatorics, for geometry and for topology, and 7th for applied math. The University was also ranked as the top graduate program for mathematical analysis.
The University’s physics graduate program was ranked 5th overall, 1st for studies in plasma physics and in cosmology/relativity/gravity, 3rd for studies in elementary particles/field/string theory, 7th for studies in quantum physics, 8th for studies in condensed matter and 12th for studies in atomic/molecular/optical physics.
Despite the University’s notable rankings, professors advised against placing too much emphasis on them.
“It is good to be skeptical of rankings,” history professor and department chair William Jordan said in an email. While U.S. News & World Report’s rankings confirm the “general perception” that Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Yale — which tied for first with Princeton — all have “well-respected” history departments, Jordan explained, it would be “going too far to infer anything more from them.”
Economics professor and department chair Gene Grossman expressed similar sentiments.
“It is nice to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report, although the National Research Council rankings that were released in the fall are more scientific and systematic,” he said in an email. “And even they should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, better to come out on top than someplace else.”
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