US News and World Report releases its 2012 graduate school rankings

www.usnews.com

The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health appears on several lists of schools, programs and specialty areas newly ranked by U.S. News and World Report for the 2012 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools. Notably, the School was ranked #2 overall in the nation for its master’s and doctoral degree programs and remains the top-ranked school of public health at a public university.

• Department of Health Policy and Management, ranked #3 for its master’s degree program in health care management.
• Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, tied for #11 for environmental/environmental health. (This listing is made under engineering schools. UNC has no engineering school, but related programs are based in public health.)
• Community/public health clinical nurse specialty, ranked #3, and public health nursing, tied for #11, are based in the Public Health Leadership Program.

“U.S. News & World Report has ranked schools of public health, based on surveys of deans and selected associate deans of public health schools, every three or four years (not annually) since 1994,” said Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, dean of the public health school. “We are fortunate to have been in the top three each time; our position has varied between #2 (tied) and #3. While we’re thrilled with the new ranking, we humbly realize that we walk among giants whose scores differed from ours by tenths of a point in a very subjective survey. It will take all schools, together, and with many partners, to solve the world’s urgent public health challenges.”

• The School of Medicine was 2nd in primary care and 20th in research. Its family medicine department was tied for 2nd; rural medicine, 6th; and AIDS efforts, 10th place.
• The School of Nursing’s master’s degree programs were tied for 4th, as was their psychiatric/mental health nursing specialty program. The pediatric nurse practitioner program was ranked 10th, and nursing service administration was ranked 6th.

Complete information on UNC’s rankings is available online.

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.