Rankings: Be Skeptical
As you research graduate schools, you may become concerned with finding the "best" program in your field. While national rankings of graduate programs do exist, there is no single, reliable ranking of graduate schools.
That said, rankings can provide you with valuable data, depending on the criteria used. If you look at rankings, consider the following points:
- Organizations that rank schools may have hidden bias, commercial interests, or questionable methodologies
- Rankings may not be using criteria that are important to you
- Rankings may not be using criteria that are related to program quality at all
- If someone says to you "X School is ranked 5th in the nation in X Subject" ask "according to whom and by what criteria?" There is no ultimate ranking, and many ranking publications are scorned by graduate schools and the Higher Education community.
Finding Rankings
Rankings are published by numerous organizations, and though they shouldn't be the only thing you consider when selecting a graduate program, rankings may provide you with valuable data about the programs that interest you.
- Graduate & Research Program List of Rankings -- this page is maintained by the Social Science Library at the University of Illinois. For each ranking the list provides a brief description of the methodology used and information about the organization.
- National Research Council Rankings -- In 2011 NRC has published a "data-based assessment" of over 5,000 programs from 212 U.S. universities. Choose one of the "Free Download" options to access data. While this data is very useful and more academic than some of the others - it is also dated. Remember the info is 5 years old.
