Texas A&M Fares Well In U.S. News Rankings
Texas A&M University’s law school made a major upward move in new graduate school rankings by U.S. News & World Report, as did its College of Education and Human Development, and the institution continued to fare well in several other key areas, with its College of Engineering moving up one place and maintaining its top 10 status among public institutions.
The School of Law, which Texas A&M acquired two years ago, moved up 38 places in the new rankings, now ranking 111th overall and among the top 60 law schools operated by public institutions. Also it ranks 28th for best part-time law school programs and 14th in the intellectual property category.
The College of Education and Human Development advanced seven places in its category — to 39th — and to 28th among such programs at public universities. The Bush School now ranks 31st among public affairs programs overall, two places higher than when such programs were previously rated, and is now among the top 20 public affairs schools among public universities, placing 19th — also two spots higher than before. Mays Business School maintained its status as having one of the nation’s top MBA programs, ranking 31st overall and 12th among public institutions.
At the departmental/specialty level, Texas A&M has several programs that have “top 10” status in the magazine’s 2017 ratings. The university’s petroleum engineering program ties for second overall and second among public institutions, while its nuclear engineering program is third overall and second among publics, and its biological/agricultural engineering program ranks third overall and among public universities. Also, the aerospace engineering program ranks 10th overall and 7th among publics.
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, who was instrumental in Texas A&M’s acquisition of the Fort Worth law school from Texas Wesleyan University, said its ranking of 14thin intellectual property law — tied with Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania — dovetails nicely with the A&M System’s cutting-edge research and the new business ventures, products and treatments that arise from discoveries in the university labs.
“This is an extraordinary achievement, especially given the fact that we weren’t even on the list in 2014,” Chancellor Sharp said.
Texas A&M President Michael K. Young said it is evident the university is making “significant progress” in several key areas and predicted even more success when various new initiatives are fully implemented.
“While we are gratified to be rated high in several areas in U.S. News & World Report and other prominent publications, our overarching goal is to enhance our programs for the benefit of the young men and women who choose to pursue their educational goals at Texas A&M — be it at the graduate or undergraduate level,” Young said.
The 2017 U.S. News & World Report rankings were posted on line today (March 16) and an expanded version will be published in the magazine’s “Best Graduate Schools 2017” guidebook.
University officials point out the magazine does not rate all academic programs. For example, the only agriculturally related program assessed by U.S. News is categorized as biological/agricultural engineering. Also, not all programs are rated every year. Science programs, for example, were last rated in 2014 and social sciences/humanities in 2013. Also, officials point out that, in light of the large number of institutions included in the ratings, many ratings result in ties, which is the case with many of the results for the Texas A&M entities.
Media contact: tamunews@tamu.edu.
