Baylor programs ranked in U.S. News grad school survey

April 30, 2014

Baylor graduate programs in law, business, health disciplines, the sciences and education were among those nationally ranked in the 2015 U.S. News Best Graduate Schools rankings.

The latest rankings are published online at www.usnews.com and in the U.S. News’ Best Graduate Schools 2015 guidebook.

The rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. The data come from surveys of administrators at more than 1,350 programs and more than 13,500 academics and professionals, conducted during fall 2013 and early 2014.

Baylor Law School

Baylor Law School moved up three places to rank No. 51 overall in the magazine’s “Top Schools” listing for 2015, tied with Pennsylvania State University and University of Richmond. In the law specialties rankings, Baylor’s trial advocacy program is ranked No. 3 in the nation.

The rankings of 194 law schools fully accredited by the American Bar Association are based on a weighted average of 12 measures of quality. Specialty rankings are based solely on nominations by legal educators at peer institutions.

Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business

Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business moved up five places to No. 65 among the top-rated master’s programs in business, tied with six universities (Case Western Reserve, George Washington University, LSU, North Carolina State, University of Oklahoma and University of Tennessee).

To determine the rankings, U.S. News surveyed all 453 master’s programs in business accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.

Baylor’s School of Education

Baylor’s School of Education advanced to No. 92, up five places from its last ranking in 2013. U.S. News surveyed graduate education programs at 356 schools granting doctoral degrees in fall 2013 and early 2014 to determine the 2015 rankings.

Baylor Sciences

U.S. News also updated rankings for biological sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics, physics and statistics. Rankings of doctoral programs in the sciences are based solely on the results of surveys sent to academics in those fields.

Baylor doctoral programs were ranked in 2015 in several categories, including:

Biological Sciences, No. 84
Chemistry, No. 96
Earth Sciences, No. 106
Mathematics, No. 134
Physics, No. 123, and
Statistics, No. 75.

Other graduate programs

Although not newly ranked, several Baylor graduate programs are highly rated by U.S. News.

The Baylor-U.S. Army master’s degree program in physical therapy was ranked fifth in 2011, tied with the University of Iowa. Baylor-U.S. Army health programs are operated at the Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
The Baylor-U.S. Army master’s degree program in healthcare management was ranked 11th best in the country, along with Boston University and Johns Hopkins University, in 2011.
The MBA in healthcare administration, a specialization in Baylor’s MBA program in the Hankamer School of Business, was ranked 25th in the U.S. News rankings of healthcare management programs. The program is a part of the Robbins Institute for Health Policy and Leadership, which serves as the foundation for all health care-related initiatives in Baylor’s business school.
Baylor’s doctoral program in clinical psychology (PsyD) was rated No. 79 by U.S. News in 2012.
Baylor’s master’s degree program in social work was ranked 60th best in the nation in 2012.
The university’s speech-language pathology program was ranked 79th in 2012.
The master’s degree program in nursing at Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas was ranked by U.S. News as 64th best in the country in 2011.

U.S. News first published a reputation-only graduate school ranking in 1987. The annual America’s Best Graduate Schools report began in 1990.

For more information about Best Graduate Schools, visit www.usnews.com/grad. To learn more about the methodology and data research, visit www.usnews.com/gradmeth.