CED, Jenkins Soar in Rankings

NC State posted huge gains on the latest ranking of graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report, with double-digit advances for the College of Education and the Jenkins Graduate School of Management.

The graduate program in the College of Education ranked 51st in the nation on the publication’s 2015 list, up 28 spots from 79th last year. The program, which has 405 full-time and 979 part-time students, tied with graduate schools at Boston University, the University of Albany—SUNY, and the University of Miami (Fla.). NC State’s cost of $9,352 per year is less than one-quarter the cost of Boston University’s program.

Dean Jayne Fleener said the college has worked hard to become more competitive with its peer institutions by focusing on areas like student selectivity and faculty resources.

“We are especially proud that so many of our faculty and graduate students have received significant recognition for their research over the past year and that over 67 percent of our faculty receive external funding for their research,” she said.

But Fleener noted that the focus on quality isn’t meant to simply drive rankings.

“Our core mission is to impact education at all levels,” she said. “Our outstanding graduate programs emphasize real-world experience through original research opportunities, comprehensive extension and engagement activities and partnerships with governments, industry and other universities.”

Jenkins on the Move

In the Poole College of Management, the Jenkins Graduate School of Management continues its meteoric rise in reputation. Its full-time MBA ranked 65th on the highly competitive U.S. News list for 2015, up 23 spots from 88th last year. The part-time, professional MBA program jumped a dozen spots this year to rank 61st in the nation.

U.S. News ranked NC State’s online MBA program No. 36 on its January 2014 list of the best graduate online business programs, an increase of six spots from the previous year. And in October 2013 Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranked the face-to-face professional MBA program among the top 20 in the country.

“Our young MBA program has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade, and the rankings are beginning to reflect the value of our unique focus: preparing MBA students to effectively lead people and organizations in a time of rapid, technology-driven change,” said Steve Allen, associate dean for graduate programs and research.

The College of Engineering maintained its overall rank at No. 29 but saw mixed results in individual programs. For example, civil engineering moved up four spots to rank 22nd while electrical engineering dropped two spots from 32nd to 34th.

In the sciences, NC State saw gains in the biological sciences, which moved from 82nd to 75th, and chemistry, which jumped from 60th to 56th. Graduate programs in computer science, mathematics, physics and statistics ranked slightly lower this year compared to last year.

U.S. News ranks graduate programs based on evaluations of peer reputation, student selectivity, faculty resources, research activity and degrees conferred.