Several Boston University schools have risen in the U.S. News and World Report annual national graduate school rankings, which were released Tuesday. The Questrom School of Business, the School of Medicine, the School of Education, the School of Social Work and the School of Law all rose in rank.
Each year, U.S. News and World Report uses expert opinions and statistical indicators of quality to rank professional school programs, according to its website. However, this year’s ranking process was different from that of previous years.
U.S. News and World Report added five more medical specialty fields to its rankings — anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, radiology and surgery — as well five new specialties in public affairs.
LAW Dean Maureen O’Rourke wrote in an email that though it’s easy for slight methodology changes to cause a rise in ranking, she is still happy that LAW was ranked 22nd out of 194 law schools.
“We’re always happy to have the quality of our students and education affirmed by external evaluators,” O’Rourke wrote.
LAW also scored well in specialty rankings, ranking fourth in healthcare law, seventh in tax law, and 11th in intellectual property law.
SED Interim Dean Catherine O’Connor attributed SED’s rise to 34th out of 267 education programs to strong faculty recruited by former dean Hardin Coleman.
“Our faculty are active in pursuing federal and state grants that support groundbreaking educational research,” O’Connor wrote in an email. “They’re also active in the profession — they occupy leadership roles in professional organizations, and connect with professionals at the school, district, and community level.”
O’Connor added that this ranking now puts SED in the top 13 percent of graduate education programs.
Questrom Associate Dean of Academic Programs Steven Davidson, attributed Questrom’s rise to 42nd out of 127 peer schools nationwide to its excellent reputation.
“We continue to have incredibly selective programs on the MBA side, which is what they’re measuring for the graduate school ranking,” Davidson said, “and we’re taking in exceptionally strong students [who] have strong employment outcomes.”
BU President Robert Brown noted in an email to The Daily Free Press that BU programs’ admirable performance in this year’s rankings indicates its programs are surpassing those of similar institutions.
“The fact that most of our programs are rising in the rankings, especially when averaged over 3-5 years, indicates that our metrics are improving,” Brown wrote, “and that the evaluators feel that we are improving the quality and impact of our programs, relative to other universities.”
BUSM Media Relations Manager Gina DiGravio wrote in an email that BUSM is pleased with its rise to 26th out of 124 in primary care education and 29th out of 124 in medical research, but that rankings aren’t everything.
“Rankings are nice,” DiGravio wrote, “but don’t always tell the whole story.”
Rankings are important in attracting prospective students, O’Connor wrote, but they sometimes overlook other high-quality programs or schools.
“No data-based ranking could ever give a complete assessment of an institution’s quality,” O’Connor wrote, “and indeed, there are many great schools of education that are lower on the list or unranked.”
Several students agreed that while the high rankings reflect well on the school, the numbers don’t matter too much.
Derek Kolodziejski, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he thinks rankings don’t offer a comprehensive depiction of a school.
“Once you get to college and actually apply and look around, you really realize that an institution is much more than a number,” Kolodziejski said.
CAS freshman Sarah Linquest said she thinks people should be careful when relying only on ratings to evaluate a school.
“I hope that prospective students don’t ever get discouraged or feel too high and mighty because of a number,” Linquest said.
Rebecca Ye, a sophomore in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said students should look for the place that’s right for them, not just what looks good on paper.
“I’m excited to be going to such a highly looked-at school, but I also know that BU is what it is because of so many factors,” Ye said. “The student body here as a whole is incredibly motivated to make changes and work hard.”
SSW Dean Jorge Delva wrote in an email that he tries to keep the ranking in perspective.
“As social workers we have a deep commitment to addressing some of the most complex social problems we experience locally, nationally, and globally,” Delva wrote. “We do so because we want to make a difference in people’s lives and not because of rankings.”
