US News & World Report Rankings Released; UCLA Engineering Rises to 16

The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science graduate program rose from 19th to 16th in the national university rankings published in April by U.S. News & World Report. Among public institutions the School ranked 10th. Four of the School’s departmental programs placed in the top 15 nationally.

The rankings, published annually, are based on a combination of peer reviews and quantitative measures. These statistical indicators include average GRE scores, acceptance rates, PhD students-faculty ratios, faculty membership in the National Academy of Engineering, research expenditures in total and per faculty member, and PhDs granted. Rankings for a school’s specialty areas are based solely on nominations by educators at peer institutions.

Virtually every one of UCLA’s specialty areas rose in the rankings this year. Among public universities, the rankings are as follows; aerospace engineering, 7th; civil engineering, 20th; chemical engineering, 15th; computer science, 7th; electrical engineering, 6th; materials science and engineering, 14th; and mechanical engineering, 7th.

The rankings released April 2 are from US News & World Report’s 2005 edition. The table below compares the most recent rankings, including public and private institutions, with those of the magazine’s 2004 edition.

To view the complete rankings, go to http://www.usnews.com.

-Chris Sutton
4/2/04