March 11, 2019
University of Washington graduate and professional disciplines rank highly in US News’ Best Graduate School lists
Denny Hall on UW’s Seattle campusMark Stone/University of Washington
The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 Best Graduate School rankings released March 12.
Several schools and departments placed prominently in the 2020 rankings, including medicine, nursing, social work and public affairs.
“To tackle the many challenges our world faces, we need highly skilled and expertly trained researchers, scholars, scientists, engineers, healthcare providers and problem-solvers of all kinds,” UW President Ana Mari Cauce said. “As this ranking recognizes, the University of Washington’s outstanding graduate and professional programs are leaders, both in educating these urgently needed professionals and producing cutting edge work that is helping to address those challenges.”
The UW School of Medicine ranked second in the nation in the primary care medical schools and family medicine categories. In 2018, medical student training in rural medicine ranked No. 1; this category has not been re-ranked since. Based on U.S. News calculations, the UW medical school received $728 million in National Institutes of Health federal research funding in fiscal year 2018. Harvard Medical School was the only institution listed as receiving a greater amount.
The UW School of Nursing was ranked the No. 1 public school and No. 4 overall among schools that offer doctoral nurse practitioner programs. It ranked 4th among public schools and 12th among all schools that offer nursing master’s programs. For the first time, these rankings are based on data from all three UW campuses, and the master’s program data applies specifically to the UW Bothell and UW Tacoma campuses. The school’s doctor of nursing specialty areas were highly ranked overall: the family nurse practitioner track tied for seventh, the pediatric nurse practitioner track ranked third, and the track for training psychiatric/mental health practitioners ranked fourth.
The UW School of Social Work tied for third in the nation.
The UW’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance jumped rankings to a two-way tie for fifth place, and second among public universities. Six subcategories ranked in the top 10: Its environmental policy training ranked second, non-profit management ranked sixth, public management and leadership also ranked sixth, public finance and budgeting ranked seventh, social policy tied for ninth place, and public policy analysis tied for 10th.
Information about U.S. News & World Report’s methodology can be found here.
Below is a roundup of the UW’s graduate and professional school and program rankings that were available under embargo to institutions before the full rankings were published. This list will be updated as more complete rankings become available:
TOP 10:
College of Arts & Sciences
- Audiology: Three-way tie for 4th (ranked in 2019)
- Chemistry (analytical): 8th (ranked in 2019)
- Computer science (overall): Tie for 6th (ranked in 2019)
- Artificial intelligence: 5th (ranked in 2019)
- Programming language: 6th (ranked in 2019)
- Systems: 6th (ranked in 2019)
- Speech-language pathology: Tie for 3rd (ranked in 2019)
- Statistics: Tie for 4th (ranked in 2019)
- Physics (nuclear): 4th (ranked in 2019)
- Psychology (clinical): Three-way tie for 8th (ranked in 2019)
College of Education
- Education (curriculum/instruction): 10th
- Education (elementary education): 10th
- Education (special education): 6th
College of Engineering
- Engineering (biomedical/bioengineering): Four-way tie for 10th
- Engineering (computer): Three-way tie for 9th
College of the Environment
- Earth sciences: Three-way tie for 10th (ranked in 2019)
Information School
- Library and information studies: 2nd (ranked in 2017)
- Digital librarianship: 3rd (ranked in 2017)
- Law librarianship: 1st (ranked in 2017)
- Services for children and youth: 2nd (ranked in 2017)
- Information systems: 3rd (ranked in 2017)
- School library media: 7th (ranked in 2017)
School of Medicine
- Primary care medical schools: 2nd
- Family medicine: 2nd
- Rural medicine: 1st (ranked in 2018)
- Pediatrics: Tie for 9th
- Geriatrics: 7th (ranked in 2018)
School of Medicine basic science graduate programs
- Microbiology: Tie for 2nd (ranked in 2019)
- Genetics/Genomics/Bioinformatics: 5th (ranked in 2019)
School of Nursing
- Doctor of Nursing Practice (overall): 4th
- Nurse practitioner (family): Tie for 7th
- Nurse practitioner (adult, primary care): 8th
School of Pharmacy
- Pharmacy: Seven-way tie for 9th (ranked in 2017)
School of Public Health
- School of Public Health (overall): 7th
- Biostatistics: Three-way tie for 1st (ranked in 2019)
Evans School of Public Policy & Governance
- Evans School of Public Policy & Governance (overall): Two-way tie for 5th
- Environmental policy: 2nd
- Nonprofit management: 6th
- Public management and leadership: 6th
- Public finance and budgeting: 7th
- Social policy: Tie for 9th
- Public policy analysis: Tie for 10th
School of Social Work
- School of Social Work (overall): (Five-way tie for 3rd)
TOP 25:
Anesthesiology: Tie for 13th
Biological sciences: Three-way tie for 23rd (ranked in 2019)
Chemistry: Six-way tie for 24th (ranked in 2019)
Computer science (theory): 11th (ranked in 2019)
College of Education (overall): Tie for 14th
Education (administration/supervision): 12th
Education (psychology): Tie for 19th
Education (policy): Tie for 17th
Education (secondary education): 12th
Engineering (aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical): Three-way tie for 17th
Engineering (civil): Four-way tie for 17th
Engineering (electrical): Four-way tie for 19th
Engineering (environmental/environmental health): Three-way tie for 23rd
Engineering (industrial/manufacturing/systems): Five-way tie for 24th
Entrepreneurship: Six-way tie for 24th
Executive MBA: Three-way tie for 23rd
Fine arts: Seven-way tie for 20th (ranked in 2019)
Fine arts (ceramics): Tie for 12th (ranked in 2019)
Foster School of Business (overall): 22nd (ranked in 2019)
Health (nursing-midwifery): Three-way tie for 12th (ranked in 2019)
Health care management: Tie for 15th
History: Four-way tie for 23rd (ranked in 2019)
Internal Medicine: Tie for 11th
Law (intellectual property law): Five-way tie for 13th
Law (tax law): Seven-way tie for 25th
Local government management: Tie for 15th (ranked in 2019)
Mathematics (applied math): 11th (ranked in 2019)
Mathematics (analysis): 17th (ranked in 2019)
Nursing master’s (overall): Tie for 12th
Nurse practitioner (adult, acute care): Tie for 13th (ranked in 2019)
Nurse practitioner (psychiatric/mental health): Three-way tie for 11th
Occupational therapy: Three-way tie for 14th (ranked in 2019)
Part-time MBA: Tie for 12th
Psychiatry: 14th
Physics: 22nd (ranked in 2019)
Physician assistant: 14th
Radiology: Tie for 13th
School of Medicine (medical research): 12th
Sociology: Five-way tie for 17th (ranked in 2019)
Sociology (population): 14th (ranked in 2019)
Surgery: Tie for 20th
Urban policy: Three-way tie for 19th (ranked in 2019)
TOP 35:
Accounting: 35th
College of Engineering (overall): Four-way tie for 27th
Economics: Tie for 35th (ranked in 2019)
Engineering (chemical): Three-way tie for 26th
Engineering (materials): Seven-way tie for 30th
English: Seven-way tie for 35th (ranked in 2019)
Law (clinical training): Seven-way tie for 26th
Law (dispute resolution): 35th
Law (environmental): 30th
Mathematics: Six-way tie for 26th (ranked in 2019)
Physical therapy: Eight-way tie for 28th (ranked in 2019)
Psychology: 10-way tie for 26th (ranked in 2019)
Political science: Four-way tie for 33rd (ranked in 2019)
Tag(s): Evans School of Public Policy & Governance • School of Medicine • School of Nursing • School of Social Work
