UIC shows continued strength in US News graduate schools rankings

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been recognized again for its academic strength in the U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate School rankings, bolstered this year by strong gains made by the recently acquired UIC John Marshall Law School.

The 2021 edition, released March 17, features information and rankings in law, engineering, business, medicine, public affairs, education and other graduate-level disciplines. This year’s rankings include data from the John Marshall Law School, which was acquired by UIC in 2019 and was made UIC’s 16th college.

The UIC John Marshall Law School moved from the 4th Tier to the 3rd Tier for the first time in four years and was ranked 140th out of 194 programs. The law school’s part-time J.D. program rose by 16 points from 45th to 29th. The International Law specialty jumped 41 points from 116th to 75th and the Intellectual property program rose by five points to 36th out of 188 ranked schools. The legal writing program jumped by one spot and is now ranked 7th among 179 schools.

The UIC College of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice program also continued its climb for the fourth year in a row, rising one spot to 6th place out of 171 ranked schools. The Nursing Administration specialty jumped five points to 11th, while the master’s program ranked 19th.

“It’s gratifying to see these rankings validate what we already know about our graduate programs: that we offer broad and deep clinical experiences, courses taught by top-notch faculty, access to world-class research and an environment that champions academic rigor,” said Terri Weaver, dean of the UIC College of Nursing.

In the College of Applied Health Sciences, occupational therapy ranked 3rd out of 198 programs and physical therapy ranked 34th out of 239 programs.

The College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (ranking is of public affairs schools and programs) is ranked 34th out of 276 ranked schools, up one spot from the previous year. Its specialty, local government management, climbed five spots to 10th, urban policy is ranked 5th, public finance and budgeting ranked 8th, nonprofit management ranked 20th, public policy analysis ranked 25th, and public management and leadership ranked 39th.

The College of Medicine ranked 58th out of 122 programs in primary care and ranked 55th out of 122 programs in the research rankings.

The part-time MBA program in the College of Business Administration climbed four points, from 65th to 61st out of 272 institutions.

The College of Engineering placed 74th out of 200 schools ranked, and within the college, several specialties showed strong gains including: civil engineering, which rose by eight points to 64th out of 151 schools; materials engineering, which jumped four points to 62nd out of 111 schools; and biomedical engineering/bioengineering, which remained at 45th after showing steady gains for several years.

In the College of Architecture, Design and the Arts, the MFA program ranked 42nd out of 226 programs. The College of Education was ranked 58th out of 253 ranked schools. The doctoral program in the College of Pharmacy was ranked 7th out of 134 programs.

Not all programs are ranked every year, although the U.S. News Best Graduate Schools publication and the website content present the most recent rankings for every program, whether they were ranked in 2021 or not.