Among the top-rated programs are four departments in IU’s College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington, as well as the Kelley School of Business, the IU School of Education and the IU Maurer School of Law at Bloomington.
The IU Maurer School of Law experienced the biggest improvement in the magazine’s rankings, breaking into the top 25 for the first time. The school jumped 13 places to 23rd overall and tied for seventh among public institutions.
Lauren Robel, dean of the IU Maurer School of Law, said faculty, students and alumni all played a role in the school’s upward momentum.
“We have been the beneficiary of enormous investments of time and treasure by our graduates and friends, particularly the Michael Maurer family and the Lilly Endowment, that have helped us achieve our mission while never losing focus on our core values,” Robel said. “While recognition from others is always welcome, none of us loses sight of what is truly important, and that is our continued commitment to the goals, integrity and values we share as a community.”
The IU School of Law-Indianapolis also placed among U.S. News’ top tier law schools, ranking 87th this year, and was singled out by the magazine as having two top 10 programs as ranked by faculty who teach in the field — health law and legal writing.
Gary R. Roberts, the Gerald L. Bepko Professor of Law and dean of the IU School of Law-Indianapolis, said he was disappointed that an unexpected change in the methodology used to calculate the overall rankings resulted in the school dropping from 68th position last year.
“Everyone should understand that the sharp decline in our national ranking this year is solely the result of U.S. News radically altering the methodology it uses to evaluate law schools by including for the first time ever statistical data about part-time evening division students and programs,” Roberts said. “In fact, by any objective measure our law school is the same, if not stronger, than it was last year.”
The four departments in the College of Arts and Sciences ranked by the magazine include the Department of Sociology, which was ranked 11th overall; its social psychology specialty was ranked second. The English and history departments are ranked 22nd overall and psychology is 23rd.
The gender and literature specialty in the English Department was ranked fifth, and its specialty in 18th-through-20th-century British literature was ranked 10th. IU’s African history specialty was ranked seventh.
“It is very gratifying to see our departments and faculty recognized for their excellent scholarship,” said Bennett I. Bertenthal, dean of the IU College of Arts and Sciences. “The Department of Sociology is clearly one of the best in the nation; our historical strengths in English, history and psychological and brain sciences are well known. I am pleased that they are joining other departments that have been ranked highly by U.S. News and World Report in previous years.”
The IU School of Education remains a part of the top 20, continuing to be ranked 19th. It also had four specialty programs in the top 10. Based on data from 241 programs that responded to the magazine, the school was ranked sixth in counseling and personnel services, eighth in secondary education, and ninth in higher education administration and elementary education.
“I’m delighted to see that for the 11th year in a row the School of Education has been ranked among the top 20 education programs in the country,” said Gerardo Gonzalez, dean of the IU School of Education. “Despite the recent financial pressures, the externally funded research productivity of our faculty remains very strong. The quality of our academic programs also was rated as outstanding by scholars and school superintendents nationwide. These are the two major factors driving the education rankings.”
Likewise, Kelley School Dean Dan Smith said he was pleased with his school’s recognition.
“There are over 3,000 colleges and universities that offer business degrees. To be ranked among the nation’s top 25 and among the top ten public programs places us in elite company,” Smith said. “Metrics related to our teaching and research mission such as student quality, research productivity and recruiter satisfaction with our students are all moving in the right direction. These and related measures are the ultimate ways we judge our success.”
Two of the Kelley School’s disciplines are ranked in the top 10 — entrepreneurship is eighth and accounting is 10th. The school expects other specialties — including accounting, management, information systems, international business and marketing — to be included in top 20 specialties lists that will be made available later.
The School of Medicine in Indianapolis improved its ranking in two different areas. It was moved up from 26th to 21st in primary care and moved up one position to 45th in research.
“In these difficult times where fewer and fewer students choose to pursue careers in primary care, we are buoyed by our moving up in the ranks of medical schools,” said Dr. D. Craig Brater, dean of the IU School of Medicine. “This will help meet the primary care needs of Hoosiers in the future; similarly, when research funding has never been more competitive, we are relieved to maintain our rank though we are committed to moving up this ladder also. Our success in research translates directly into jobs and economic development for the state, and we aim to do even more.”
The full rankings by U.S. News and World Report will be released to the public online at http://www.usnews.com on Thursday (April 23), on newsstands and in the “America’s Best Graduate Schools” guidebook Monday (April 27).