Several of the University of Oregon’s graduate programs are ranked among the best by U.S. News & World Report in its “America’s Best Graduate Schools 2008.”
The University’s Special Education program ranked No. 3 in the nation, and the College of Education came in at No. 12, moving up three spots in one year and placing in the top five percent of nationally ranked schools.
The School of Law’s Conflict and Dispute Resolution program, along with the Environmental and Natural Resources law program, made the top 10. The law school is ranked in the top 100 on a list including both public and private institutions.
The University’s clinical psychology program also fared well, ranking No. 20 in the nation, while the University’s psychology program ranked among the top 15 percent.
Also, the biological sciences program is ranked one of the top 50 in the country.
The University’s graduate school offers nearly 90 graduate degree programs.
“Rankings are just one way in which we assess the quality of our graduate programs,” said Marian Friestad, associate dean of the graduate school. “There are many other ways which are probably better ways of looking at the quality of work we do here.”
Still, Friestad said high rankings are always good to hear, and the graduate programs continually strive to do better.
According to the magazine, its professional school rankings are based on expert academics’ and professionals’ survey data measuring overall program quality. Other rankings, including sciences, social sciences and humanities, are based on the ratings of academic experts.