Berkeley Wins High Marks in U.S. News Survey

English Ranks First in Nation; an Additional Nine of Our Graduate Programs Place in the Top 10

Berkeley's graduate schools continued to excel in the annual U.S. News and World Report annual rankings released March 7, with the English program ranked first in the nation.

Other Berkeley graduate programs ranked in the top 10 among major U.S. universities were business (10), economics (tied for 6), education (3), engineering (2), history (3), law (tied for 8), political science (tied for 3), psychology (2) and sociology (tied for 3).

Although the validity of the rankings is widely debated, they always generate attention. The rankings, with accompanying articles and profiles will appear in the March 20 issue of the magazine.

In all but the liberal arts schools, the rankings are based on student selectivity (including grade point averages and entrance test scores), the school's success in placing students after graduation (including how much they earn in their new jobs) and reputation. Faculty resources and research are frequently used as well.

Rankings for liberal arts schools are based on reputational surveys. Questionnaires are sent to department heads and directors of graduate studies at schools that had granted a total of five or more doctorates in the five years following 1987 or '88, according to the magazine.

Recipients were asked to rate the institutions for the school's reputation for scholarship, curriculum and the quality of both the faculty and graduating students.

The magazine does not rank all programs each year, but for those that were ranked last year--engineering, business and law--all improved their overall standings. This was the first time education programs were ranked.

In some fields, specialties were also ranked this year.

In engineering specialties, Berkeley was rated tops in the country in computer; second in chemical, civil and materials; third in electrical; fourth in nuclear; and fifth in industrial and environmental.

In history, Berkeley was first in African-American, cultural and Asian history. It was second in modern U.S. and European history, and fifth in women's and Latin American history.

For political science fields, Berkeley was second in both comparative and international politics, third in American politics and fourth in political theory.

Berkeley was ranked first for its programs in Third World and Renaissance literature, second for both 19th/20th century British and American literature, and third in medieval literature.

Experimental psychology was ranked third and developmental psychology fifth.

In sociology, Berkeley placed first in sociology of culture, second in historical sociology, fourth in economic sociology and fifth in social stratification.

In educational specialties, Berkeley's educational psychology was ranked third in the nation.

In law, Berkeley tied for seventh in environmental law and ninth in international law. The Haas School of Business' real estate specialty was ranked second in the country and its part-time MBA program eighth.

In addition to graduate school rankings, the magazine ranks undergraduate programs in a special edition each fall.


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