UNL featured several highly ranked colleges and programs in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools 2015, which were released March 11.
The University of Nebraska College of Law continued its momentum in the new rankings, landing among the Best Law Schools at No. 54 out of 194 U.S. institutions. The seven-spot jump this year follows a 28-spot leap last year.
Susan Poser, dean of the College of Law, said it was gratifying – but not surprising – to see such national recognition for the progress that the university’s law college has made.
“The credit goes to the faculty, who are scholars and teachers who also participate in law reform at the local, state, national, and international levels, and to our innovative curriculum, which prepares students for a wide array of careers,” Poser said. “I am so proud that the College of Law is playing a part in all of the great things happening at the University of Nebraska.”
To arrive at its annual law-school rankings, U.S. News examined peer assessment, assessment by lawyers and judges, students’ grade-point averages, law-school entrance exam scores, acceptance rates, student-to-faculty ratio, recent graduate employment and the rate of graduates from each school who pass the bar exam.
The UNL College of Business Administration’s part-time MBA program also ranked highly – No. 39 out of 127 MBA programs in the latest rankings and up 11 spots from two years ago. UNL joined fellow Big Ten members Northwestern, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Rutgers and Maryland in the U.S. News Top 50.
Meanwhile, CBA’s online MBA program delivered the university’s highest U.S. News ranking, checking in at No. 6 in the nation and second in the Big Ten. The ranking comes one day after UNL learned the Financial Times named UNL’s online MBA program No. 12 in the world.
“We are pleased to be recognized as an outstanding nationally ranked MBA program,” CBA dean Donde Plowman said. “We continue to receive recognition for our MBA programs, both for the on-campus program recognized in this ranking and for our online programs.”
The College of Education and Human Sciences’ graduate program improved three spots this year, to No. 48 out of 116 schools ranked by U.S. News. The CEHS online masters’ program was No. 11, third in the Big Ten behind Indiana and Illinois.
The online program rankings were based on several factors, including peer assessment, total enrollment, tuition levels, entrance-test requirements, average undergraduate grade-point averages, retention rates and whether universities provided technical support and a smart phone app.
“CEHS continued to make progress in the rankings, and we’re pleased that our graduate education program joined so many of our Big Ten colleagues in the top 50,” dean Marjorie Kostelnik said. “Our online master’s degree program in education made a dramatic jump, nearing top ten status. This helps confirm that we have outstanding faculty and students, and I’m proud of their accomplishments.”
UNL’s College of Engineering was No. 87 out of 193. Its biological/agricultural engineering program was No. 9, based on U.S. News’ survey of engineering school department heads.
“In the last two years, the College of Engineering has risen eight spots in the rankings, so it’s a good start to becoming even more recognized among the top programs,” dean Timothy Wei said. “We know we have a ways to go, but we are excited to be building education and research programs that are meaningful to our students and the state of Nebraska.”
