4/6/06 David M. Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)
Deedie Dowdle, 334/844-9999 (ddowdle@auburn.edu)
AU GRADUATE
PROGRAMS SHOW IMPROVEMENT IN ANNUAL U.S. NEWS GRAD SCHOOL RANKINGS
AUBURN - Auburn University’s graduate programs in business, education
and engineering all saw their standings improve in the recently released
U.S. News & World Report “Best Graduate Schools” rankings.
AU’s master’s of business administration program in the College
of Business, unranked last year, ranked 69 among all business school graduate
programs surveyed by the magazine. Graduate programs in AU’s College
of Education improved from a ranking of 80 to 72 and graduate programs
in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering improved from 77 to 74.
Dan Gropper, associate dean and executive director of Auburn’s M.B.A.
programs, said a greater degree of student selectivity contributed to
his programs’ higher rank.
“We raised our admissions standards and reduced the entering class
size,” said Gropper. “We also have partnered with other colleges
here at Auburn to offer joint degree program options, such as our dual
M.B.A./master’s in industrial and systems engineering program, which
have attracted excellent students to Auburn and raised both our entrance
standards and placement results. We also have some excellent M.B.A./Ph.D.
students in Human Sciences.”
Among public universities, AU’s business school graduate program
is ranked 39 nationally.
Dean Frances Kochan of AU’s College of Education attributed the College
of Education’s stronger graduate showing to its faculty and staff
and the graduates they produce.
"This year's rankings speak directly to our college's increasing
strengths and reputation in teaching, research and outreach-not to mention
the efforts of our faculty and staff," Kochan said. "Our strengths
help us recruit quality students and secure support for our faculty's
many outreach and research endeavors. When they leave us, our graduates
represent our college well as the competent, committed and reflective
professionals we strive to help all our students become."
The AU College of Education’s graduate programs ranked 51 nationally
among public universities.
Dean Larry Benefield was pleased with AU’s Samuel Ginn College of
Engineering’s improvement in the rankings, but indicated his aspirations
for the college are higher still.
“I’m pleased at the steady progress in our graduate rankings,
which are based on a mix of objective measurements and subjective rankings
by engineering deans across the country,” Benefield said. “Not
only have our measurements improved, but other institutions are noticing.
I think that our faculty are doing even better than the numbers suggest
since reputation always trails reality.
“We still have a significant amount of work ahead if we are to achieve
our vision of advancing into the ranks of the nation’s top public
engineering colleges. My hope is that the additional resources we obtain
during the course of the current ‘It Begins at Auburn’ campaign
will accelerate our progress towards this goal.”
Auburn ranked 46 among overall graduate engineering programs at public
universities, a jump from 48 last year. In addition, rankings of graduate
programs in five individual engineering disciplines improved while another
stayed the same. AU’s graduate programs jumped from 27 to 26 in industrial
and systems engineering; 55 to 49 in electrical engineering; 55 to 51
in chemical engineering; unranked to 58 in computer science and software
engineering; and 69 to 62 in mechanical engineering. AU’s civil engineering
graduate program ranked 48, the same as last year.
Methodologies for the U.S. News rankings vary by discipline. Factors used
in the rankings include the following:
- Business: Assessment by peer deans and directors; assessment by corporate
recruiters; graduates’ mean starting salary and bonus; employment
rates for graduates; mean Graduate Management Admission Test score; mean
undergraduate grade-point average; and acceptance rate;
- Education: Assessment by peer deans; assessment by school superintendents;
mean Graduate Record Examination verbal and quantitative scores; acceptance
rate, student-faculty ratio; faculty journal editorships; doctoral degrees
awarded; percent of students in doctoral programs; total and average faculty
research expenditures; and percentage of faculty engaged in research;
- Engineering: Assessment by peer deans; assessment by corporate recruiters;
mean GRE quantitative scores; acceptance rate; student-faculty ratio;
percentage of National Academy of Engineering faculty members; doctoral
degrees awarded; and total and average faculty research expenditures.
Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research
institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff.
Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama’s
largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate,
graduate and doctoral degree programs.
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