Nursing, education, business & engineering gain ground

Pitt nursing, education, business and engineering schools all gained ground in the annual U.S. News and World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, with the School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program rising to No. 7 and Master of Science in Nursing program tied at No. 8 in the publication’s 2018 edition.

The School of Medicine rose to No. 15 in research but fell to No. 13 in primary care, while Pitt’s law school dropped to No. 82.

Each year, U.S. News evaluates graduate programs in business, law, medicine, engineering and education.

Its latest grad school report, released March 14, also includes graduate programs in the social sciences and humanities and library and information studies, which were last ranked in 2013.

In the non-annual rankings, the School of Information Sciences’ Master of Library and Information Science ranked 10th.

The School of Information Sciences was recognized as tops in the health librarianship specialty, sharing its No. 1 ranking with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

BUSINESS

Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business rose to No. 53, up from No. 55.

Harvard and Penn tied for No. 1 in the 2018 best business school rankings, followed by the University of Chicago at No. 3, and MIT, Northwestern and Stanford tied for No. 4.

Business school rankings were based on quality assessment (40 percent), placement success (35 percent) and student selectivity (25 percent).

Business specialties
Pitt was ranked in one of a dozen business specialties. The Katz school’s part-time MBA program fell to No. 71, tied with Babson College, Florida State and Northeastern. In last year’s rankings, the program was No. 66.

EDUCATION

Among schools of education, Pitt rose to No. 27, tied with the University of Connecticut. Pitt last year was No. 30.

Harvard was at the top of the 2018 rankings, followed by Stanford and, tied at No. 3, UCLA, Penn and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Education school rankings were based on quality assessment (40 percent), student selectivity (18 percent), faculty resources (12 percent) and research activity (30 percent).

Pitt was not ranked in any of the 10 education programs and specialties this year.

ENGINEERING

The Swanson School of Engineering tied for No. 42 with Arizona State and the University of Florida. Last year, the three schools tied at No. 43.

MIT ranked No. 1 in engineering, followed by Stanford, UC-Berkeley, California Institute of Technology and, tied for No. 5, Carnegie-Mellon and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Engineering school rankings were based on quality assessment (40 percent), student selectivity (10 percent), faculty resources (25 percent) and research activity (25 percent).

Engineering specialties
The Swanson school was ranked in nine of 13 engineering specialties this year:

• In biomedical engineering/bioengineering, Pitt rose from No. 18 to No. 12, tied with Boston University, Columbia, Northwestern and Washington University in St. Louis.

• In chemical engineering, Pitt rose from No. 36 to tie at No. 33 with Iowa State, University of Maryland-College Park, University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Virginia Tech.

• In civil engineering, Pitt tied for No. 60 with Case Western Reserve, Louisiana State, University of Connecticut, University of Delaware, University of Houston, University of Kansas, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nevada-Reno and University of Oklahoma. Last year Pitt was No. 56.

• In computer engineering, Pitt rose from No. 48 to tie at No. 43 with Rutgers and Notre Dame.

• In electrical/electronic/communications engineering, Pitt held steady at No. 55, tied this year with Auburn, Lehigh, Oregon State, Tufts, University of Central Florida, University of Connecticut, University of Rochester, University of Tennessee-Knoxville and University of Texas-Dallas.

• In environmental/environmental health engineering, Pitt rose from No. 54 to tie at No. 48 with Drexel, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Oregon State, University of Connecticut and University of South Florida.

• In industrial/manufacturing/systems engineering, Pitt rose from No. 23 to tie at No. 17 with Lehigh, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers, University of Florida, University of Texas-Austin and University of Washington.

• In materials engineering, Pitt rose from No. 55 to tie at No. 43 with University of Connecticut and University of Southern California.

• In mechanical engineering, Pitt fell from No. 51, this year tying at No. 57 with Clemson, Dartmouth, Tufts, University of Arizona, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Washington State and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

LAW

Pitt’s School of Law fell to No. 82, tied with Loyola, Penn State and University of Tulsa. Last year, Pitt was No. 78.

This year’s top five law schools were Yale, Stanford, Harvard, University of Chicago and Columbia.

Law school rankings were based on quality assessment (40 percent), placement success (20 percent), student selectivity (25 percent) and faculty resources (15 percent).

Law specialties
Pitt was ranked in one of nine law specialties, health care law. Its rank fell to No. 18, down from No. 12.

MEDICINE

Research
Among medical schools, Pitt rose one place in research to tie at No. 15 with the University of Chicago. The U.S. News top five programs in research were Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, UC-San Francisco and Penn.

Research rankings were based on quality assessment (40 percent), research activity (30 percent), student selectivity (20 percent) and faculty resources (10 percent).

Primary care
Pitt ranked No. 13 in primary care, down from No. 11.

The top five programs in primary care were University of Washington, UNC-Chapel Hill, UC-San Francisco, Oregon Health and Science University and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Primary care rankings were based on quality assessment (40 percent), primary care rate (30 percent), student selectivity (15 percent) and faculty resources (15 percent).

Medical specialties
The School of Medicine was ranked in five specialties.

• In drug and alcohol abuse, Pitt tied at No. 10 with Washington University in St. Louis. Last year Pitt was ranked No. 8.

• In geriatrics, Pitt rose to No. 9, tied with Yale. Last year Pitt ranked No. 10.

• In internal medicine, Pitt fell to No. 16, tied with Cornell, New York University, UCLA and University of Chicago. Last year, Pitt was No. 13.

• In pediatrics, Pitt rose to No. 8. Last year, Pitt was ranked No. 9.

• In women’s health, Pitt tied for No. 6 with Washington University in St. Louis. Last year, Pitt ranked No. 5.

Specialty rankings were based on ratings by deans and senior faculty from the schools surveyed.

NURSING

Master’s programs
Pitt nursing’s master’s program jumped to tie at No. 8 with Columbia, up from No. 13 last year. This year’s top-ranked master’s programs were Duke, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Emory and Ohio State.

Nursing master’s programs were ranked based on quality assessment (40 percent), master’s program student selectivity and master’s program size (11.25 percent), faculty resources (23.75 percent) and research activity (25 percent).

Doctor of Nursing
Practice programs
Pitt rose as well in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program rankings, up one place to No. 7.

The top five DNP programs were Duke, Johns Hopkins, University of Washington, Rush University and, tied for No. 5, Columbia and Ohio State.

DNP programs were ranked on quality assessment (40 percent), DNP student selectivity and DNP program size (18.75 percent), faculty resources (26.25 percent) and research activity (15 percent).

Nursing-anesthesia programs
Among nursing-anesthesia programs, Pitt held steady at No. 4, tied this year with California State-Fullerton, Rush University and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Nursing anesthesia programs were ranked based on a survey of academics at peer institutions.

Nursing specialties
In nursing specialties, Pitt ranked:

• No. 3 in clinical nurse leader, up from No. 4 last year.

• No. 4 in nursing administration, up from No. 8.

• No. 6 in nursing informatics, up from No. 9.

• No. 6 in nurse practitioner: adult/gerontology/acute care, tied with University of Maryland-Baltimore. Pitt ranked No. 5 last year.

• No. 9 in nurse practitioner: pediatric/primary care, tied with University of Colorado. Pitt ranked No. 9 last year.

• No. 12 in nurse practitioner: psychiatric/mental health/across the lifespan, tied with Case Western Reserve and UNC-Chapel Hill. Pitt ranked No. 10 last year.

• No. 13 in nurse practitioner: adult/gerontology/primary care, tied with Case Western and Emory. Pitt ranked No. 14 last year.

• No. 15 in nurse practitioner: family, tied with New York University. Pitt ranked No. 13 last year.

Specialty rankings were based on assessments by nursing school deans and deans of graduate studies.

NON-ANNUAL RANKINGS

This year’s best graduate schools publication rated programs in library and information studies and related specialty areas, as well as in social sciences and humanities programs in economics, English, history, political science, psychology and sociology, and their related specialty areas.

These rankings — based solely on academic experts’ ratings — were last updated in 2013. (See March 21, 2013, University Times.)

Library and
information studies
Pitt’s School of Information Sciences held steady at No. 10 in library and information studies.

Rankings were based on surveys from program deans, directors and senior faculty.

Library and information specialties
Pitt was ranked in four library and information specialties:

• In health librarianship, Pitt tied for No. 1 with UNC-Chapel Hill, rising from No. 3.

• In archives and preservation, Pitt held steady at No. 6, tied this year with UCLA.

• In information systems, Pitt fell to No. 9, down from No. 4.

• In digital librarianship, Pitt fell to No. 11, down from No. 10.

Social sciences and humanities
• In economics, Pitt fell to No. 39, tying with Indiana University-Bloomington and Texas A&M-College Station. In 2013, Pitt was ranked No. 36.

• In English, Pitt rose to No. 35, tying with Rice, UC-Santa Cruz, University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Washington and Washington University in St. Louis. In 2013, Pitt was ranked No. 39.

• In history, Pitt fell to No. 44, tying with Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, George Mason, Michigan State, Penn State, UC-Santa Barbara, University of Georgia and University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In 2013, Pitt was No. 36.

• In political science, Pitt held steady at No. 40, this year tying with Brown, Florida State, George Washington University and University of Colorado-Boulder.

• In psychology, Pitt rose to No. 26, tying with Brown, Johns Hopkins, Penn State, UC-Davis, University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Iowa, University of Southern California, University of Washington and Vanderbilt. In 2013, Pitt was No. 30.

• In sociology, Pitt fell to No. 57, tying with Bowling Green State, Purdue, Temple, UC-Riverside and University of Florida. In 2013, Pitt ranked No. 52.

Rankings of graduate programs in the social sciences and humanities were based on peer assessment surveys in each discipline.

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The “Best Graduate Schools 2018” print guidebook will be on newsstands April 11. The rankings are available at www.usnews.com.

—Kimberly K. Barlow