Campus Life

University of Florida graduate schools rank among nation’s best programs

University of Florida graduate schools are among the nation’s top programs, according to the annual survey released today by U.S. News and World Report.

The College of Education continued to climb in the rankings and moved up five spots to No. 24. The college has shown persistent improvement over the past eight years. With substantial growth in research funding, improved selectivity in student admissions and strengthening innovation in technology and education initiatives, the steadily growing recognition came to no surprise for Dean Glenn Good.

“Good things happen when you do that over time, and that momentum can carry over into higher rankings,” Good said. “With our advances in research, our steadily improving rankings and the recent start of major renovation work on our historic Norman Hall building, it’s an exciting time to be at the UF College of Education.”

Advances at the College of Education include investing preeminent-university funding into high-priority research initiatives. These initiatives include: early childhood studies with the Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies, personalized e-learning like the online tutoring tool Algebra Nation that serves all counties across Florida and several states, and Big Data informatics analysis of national educational trends and teaching practices with the Virtual Learning Lab.

Bright spots in this year’s rankings for UF also include the Warrington College of Business, which also moved up five spots to No. 14.  

“UF MBA strives to provide a transformational experience for our students,” said John Gresley, UF MBA assistant dean and director. “These rankings continue to solidify the value of our educational programs, expertise of our faculty and strength of our professional development opportunities for our students looking to maximize their MBA experience.”

Additionally, the UF College of Medicine and College of Nursing’s doctor of nursing practice programs maintained their stature as the highest-ranked medical school and nursing school in the state of Florida.

“These rankings are a reflection of our ongoing commitment to exceptional health professions education and research,” said Dr. David S. Guzick, senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health. “We have consistently shown that UF Health has earned its place among the nation’s best research-intensive schools. Our faculty and staff can once again be proud of their accomplishments.”

Other ranked programs include UF’s Pharmacy, which retains its No. 9 status, though it was a discipline that U.S. News did not publish a ranking for this year.

Top-50 graduate programs at UF among all programs in the nation, both public and private, include the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at No. 43, and the Levin College of Law, which remains ranked at No. 41.

The law school’s tax program held its spot as the third-ranked program, and its environmental law program returned to the top 20, landing at 18th overall. UF Law’s academic ranking among peer schools soared 8 points from 41st to 33rd. This is the law school’s highest-ever ranking in this category.

“We will continue our quest to become a top 10 public law school,” said Laura A. Rosenbury, Dean, and Levin, Mabie & Levin Professor of Law. “Last year’s seven-point surge in the rankings put us on the right track.   We remain laser-focused on implementing new strategies to help our students become leaders in the legal profession and beyond.”

To learn more about the criteria used to calculate rankings, visit U.S. News Best Graduate Schools website, here.

Margot Winick Author
March 20, 2018