UMD Graduate Programs Receive High Rankings by U.S. News & World Report

University of Maryland schools, colleges and programs were recognized in the U.S. News & World Report in its 2021 Best Graduate School rankings released yesterday. The following UMD programs and specialties ranked in the Top 10 in the nation: counseling/personnel services (No. 1, College of Education & College of Behavioral and Social Sciences), homeland/national security (No. 4, School of Public Policy), educational psychology (No. 5, College of Education), higher ed administration (No. 10, College of Education), information systems (No. 10, Robert H. Smith School of Business), and audiology (No. 10, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences).

Here are this year’s highlights:

• The College of Education & College of Behavioral and Social Sciences hold one top 5 joint ranking: counseling/personnel services (No. 1).

• The College of Education holds another top 5 ranking: educational psychology (No. 5) and eight top 20 rankings: counseling/personnel services (No. 1), education psychology (No. 5), higher ed administration (No. 10), special education (No. 14), secondary teacher education (No. 16), education policy (No. 17), curriculum and instruction (No. 19), and elementary education (No. 19).

• The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences also holds two top 20 rankings: audiology (No. 10) and speech-language pathology (No. 16).

• The School of Public Policy holds one top 5 ranking: homeland/national security (No. 4) and three top 20 rankings: homeland/national security (No. 4), public finance & budgeting (No. 11), and international global policy (No. 12).

• The A. James Clark School of Engineering holds four top 20 rankings: aerospace (No. 12), computer (No. 14), electrical (No. 14), and mechanical engineering (No. 17).

• The Robert H. Smith School of Business holds one top 20 ranking: information systems (No. 10).

The U.S. News 2021 Best Graduate Schools listing evaluates graduate programs across six major disciplines in business, education, engineering, law, medicine, and nursing, including specialties in each area. The rankings are based on expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research output, and student achievement. According to U.S. News, the data for the rankings in all six disciplines came from statistical and reputation surveys sent to tens of thousands of academics and professionals, conducted in fall 2019 and early 2020.

While not every program is ranked each year, UMD still retains several top 20 graduate programs rankings from previous cycles:

• The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences holds one top 5 ranking: criminology (No. 1), ranked in 2018.

• The College of Arts and Humanities holds one top 5 ranking: african american history (No. 2), ranked in 2017.

• The College of Information Studies holds one top 10 ranking: best library and information studies programs (No. 8) ranked in 2017.

• The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences holds two top 20 rankings: physics (No. 14) ranked in 2018 and computer science (No. 16) ranked in 2018.

The full U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate School rankings are available here, with UMD’s complete graduate rankings listed here.