March 13, 2017
UW Medicine’s primary care, family and rural medicine programs lead nation again; many other UW disciplines highly ranked
For the 23rd time in the past 24 years, the University of Washington ranked as the No. 1 primary care medical education program in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 Best Graduate School rankings released Tuesday.
The family medicine and rural medicine training programs have also led the nation since those rankings began in 1991. See more about UW Medicine’s program rankings here. The UW’s doctor of nursing practice program landed in the No. 3 position. Learn more about the School of Nursing rankings here.
The UW’s Information School jumped from No. 3 to No. 2 in the nation for library and information studies programs, and four subjects within that group landing in the top three: law librarianship at No. 1, services for children and youth at No. 2, and information systems and digital librarianship each landing at No. 3.
In U.S. News ranking materials that were provided before the full publication went live Tuesday, the UW has nearly 50 graduate programs among the nation’s top 10.
“Our goal is to be the greatest public university in the world as measured by our impact, and these rankings are a sign that we’re well on our way to that goal,” UW President Ana Mari Cauce said. “To see such broad-based excellence is a reflection of the quality of our faculty, which we’re seeking to advance even further through our campaign and through our discussions with policymakers. And given our leading role in educating Washington’s physicians, it’s particularly heartening that we continue to be the leading university in the nation for primary care, family medicine and rural medicine.”
The Information School’s graduate programs have evolved to stay modern and relevant in a time of rapid change in information-related professions. Students in the Master of Library and Information Science program learn how to design systems, organize knowledge and help people locate the resources they need.
While many of the graduate school rankings are updated annually, the library and information studies programs are only evaluated once every five years, making this a rare opportunity to move up.
“The ranking of the UW iSchool as second in the nation among schools that offer programs in the library and information sciences is well-deserved recognition of our commitment to the highest quality research and academic programming in our field,” Dean Harry Bruce said.
The UW’s College of Education maintained a spot in the top 10 in the nation, landing at No. 9 overall, with several other specialties in the top 10: secondary education (seventh), elementary education (tied for seventh), administration and supervision (tied for seventh), special education (tied for seventh), curriculum and instruction (tied for ninth), and education policy (four-way tie for 10th).
Many subject areas are only ranked every four or five years, so U.S. News also re-released rankings for several graduate schools and specialty programs from previous years. Among those previously released rankings, the UW’s graduate program in computer science remained in a tie for sixth, with the artificial intelligence and computer science systems specialties each ranking fifth. Computer science theory was ninth. The UW’s biostatistics program was tied for first in the nation while statistics was tied for fourth. Earth sciences (tied for 11th), biological sciences (tied for 19th), physics (22nd), and chemistry (tied for 24th) were all ranked in 2014. The nuclear physics specialty, also ranked in 2014, was second in the nation and the genetics specialty in biological sciences remained in a tie for third.
Information about U.S. News & World Report’s methodology can be found here.
Below is a roundup of the UW’s graduate program rankings that were available before the full rankings were published. This list will be updated as more complete rankings become available:
TOP 10:
Medicine: No. 1 primary care medical education program
Family medicine: 1st
Rural medicine: 1st
Pediatrics: 5th
Internal medicine: Tie for 6th
Geriatrics: 7th
Drug and alcohol abuse: 8th
Doctor of nursing practice: 3rd
Nursing master’s (overall): Tie for 6th
Nurse practitioner (family): 3rd
Nurse practitioner (adult gerontology, primary care): Tie for 7th
Nurse practitioner (pediatric, primary care): 7th
Nurse practitioner (psychiatric mental health): 8th
Nursing informatics: 8th
Library and Information studies: 2nd
Law librarianship: 1st
Services for children and youth: 2nd
Information systems: 3rd
Digital librarianship: 3rd
School library media: 7th
Health disciplines:
Social work: Three-way tie for 3rd (ranked in 2016)
Speech-language pathology: Tie for 3rd (ranked in 2016)
Audiology: Three-way tie for 4th (ranked in 2016)
Public health: 6th (ranked in 2015)
Clinical psychology: Three-way tie for 8th (ranked in 2016)
Pharmacy: Seven-way tie for 9th (ranked in 2016)
Health care management: Five-way tie for 10th (ranked in 2015)
Public affairs (overall): Four-way tie for 4th (ranked in 2016)
Environmental policy: 2nd (ranked in 2016)
Nonprofit management: Tie for 6th (ranked in 2016)
Public management: Tie for 9th (ranked in 2016)
Public finance and budgeting: 10th (ranked in 2016)
Sciences (ranked in 2014):
Biostatistics: Tie for 1st (ranked in 2014)
Physics (nuclear): 2nd (ranked in 2014)
Biological science (genetics): Tie for 3rd (ranked in 2014)
Statistics: Tie for 4th (ranked in 2014)
Computer science (overall): Tie for 6th (ranked in 2014)
Artificial intelligence: 5th (ranked in 2014)
Systems: 5th (ranked in 2014)
Theory: 9th (ranked in 2014)
Chemistry:
Analytical: 10th (ranked in 2014)
Inorganic: Tie for 10th (ranked in 2014)
Engineering (computer): Tie for 9th
Education (overall): 9th
Secondary education: 7th
Elementary education: Tie for 7th
Administration/supervision: Tie for 7th
Special education: 9th
Education (curriculum and instruction): Tie for 9th
Education (policy): Four-way tie for 10th
Law (intellectual property law): 10th
Engineering (biomedical/bioengineering): Tie for 10th
TOP 25:
Nurse practitioner (adult gerontology, acute care): Tie for 11th
Physician assistant: Tie for 11th (ranked in 2015)
Earth sciences: Tie for 11th (ranked in 2014)
Social policy: Three-way tie for 11th (ranked in 2016)
Public policy analysis: Tie for 12th (ranked in 2016)
Health (nursing-midwifery): Three-way tie for 12th (ranked in 2016)
Fine arts (ceramics): Tie for 12th (ranked in 2016)
Medicine (research): Tie for 12th
Environmental / Environmental health engineering: Three-way tie for 12th
Nursing midwifery: Three-way tie for 12th
Educational psychology: Four-way tie for 12th
Computer science (programming language): Four-way tie for 13th (ranked in 2014)
Mathematics (applied math): 13th (ranked in 2014)
Sociology of population: Tie for 14th
Medicine (women’s health): Three-way tie for 14th
Occupational therapy: Three-way tie for 14th (ranked in 2016)
Psychology: Seven-way tie for 14th (ranked in 2013)
Civil engineering: 16th
Sociology: Five-way tie for 17th
Industrial / Manufacturing / Systems engineering: Seven-way tie for 17th
Part-time MBA: Tie for 18th
Business (entrepreneurship): Tie for 18th
Aerospace / Aeronautical / Astronautical engineering: Tie for 19th
Biological sciences: Six-way tie for 19th (ranked in 2014)
Law (tax): Three-way tie for 20th
Sociology: Four-way tie for 20th (ranked in 2013)
Fine arts: Seven-way tie for 20th (ranked in 2016)
Physics: 22nd (ranked in 2014)
Law (clinical training): Four-way tie for 22nd
Materials engineering: Four-way tie for 22nd
Chemistry: Seven-way tie for 24th (ranked in 2014)
Engineering (overall): Tie for 25th
Mathematics: Three-way tie for 25th (ranked in 2014)
Law (international): Five-way tie for 25th
TOP 35:
History: Four-way tie for 23rd
Electrical / Electronic / Communications engineering: Five-way tie for 26th
Psychology: 10-way tie for 26th
Foster School of Business: Tie for 27th
Chemical engineering: Five-way tie for 27th
Physical therapy: Eight-way tie for 28th (ranked in 2016)
Law: Six-way tie for 30th
Political science: Four-way tie for 33rd
Mechanical engineering: Tie for 34th
English: Seven-way tie for 35th
Economics: Tie for 35th (ranked in 2013)
