U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report: Best Graduate Schools

Institutional Effectiveness, Strategic Planning, and Assessment has prepared a PowerPoint presentation providing an overview of 2021 US News and World Report Best Graduate School Rankings

The U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools ranks programs and specialties in law, medicine, and nursing annually, while other programs are typically ranked every four years. In the table below, the year indicates the calendar year the rankings were released. The "2025" rankings were released April 9, 2024 (except for Medicine) and are shown under the 2024 column.  Medicine rankings for "2025" were released July 23, 2024 and utilize tier instead of ordinal rankings.

     2007  2008  2009  2010 2011 2012 2013 2014  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
School of Medicine                                     
Research - Overall  41 43 43 40 38 37 37 34 37 40 40 31 38 34 27 29 32 Tier 2
  Among Publics 16 18 18 17 15 14 15 13 15 17 16 12 16 14 9 10 13 Tier 2
Primary Care - Overall  30 35 42 46 49 71 58 40 52 65 44 21 23 12 16 15 22 Tier 1
  Among Publics 20 26 29 32 32 40 36 26 35 37 26 17 17 10 14 13 21 Tier 1
                                       
Most Diverse Medical Schools a               86 58 51 81
Most Graduates Practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas a               95 98 114 146
Most Graduates Practicing in Primary Care a               67 58 64 82
Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas a               122 111 98 107
                       
a new ranking in 2021                      
                                       
    2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Carey School of Law                                     
Day Program - Overall  36 42 43 48 42 39 41 46 47 48 48 49 52 47 50 47 51 55
  Among Publics 15 21 20 25 20 18 19 22 25 24 24 26 27 24 26 24 24 28
Evening Program a - Overall     6 5 8 9 6 7 5 5 4 5 4 5 8 6 21 8
  Among Publics     2 1 2 2 3 3 2 2 1 2 1 2 3 2 8 3
Specialties                                    
  Business / Corporate Law b                           61 52 56 60 35
  Clinical Training 5 8 8 9 6 5 5 11 5 7 7 6 7 6 9 8 13 5
  Constitutional Law b                           44 41 40 48 39
  Contracts / Commercial Law b                           46 56 59 72 64
  Criminal Law b                           57 50 39 36 34
  Dispute Resolution - - - - - - - - - 15 18 13 13 13 15 12 9 7
  Environmental Law 11 8 6 10 7 11 6 6 15 13 14 17 13 10 16 13 19 21
  Health Care Law 2 3 2 2 3 3 4 1 2 4 2 6 6 7 7 6 6 4
  Intellectual Property Law - - - - - - - - - - - - 69 79 97 87 46 53
  International Law - - - - - - - - - - - - 71 69 68 67 47 71
  Legal Writing - - - - - - - - - - - - 68 63 114 115 98 111
  Tax Law - - - - - - - - - - - - 71 63 73 76 68 70
  Trial Advocacy - - - - 8 8 - - 13 16 - - 43 31 30 31 40 36
                                       
a new ranking in 2009    
b new ranking in 2020    
                                       
               2003  2007  2011 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
School of Nursing                                     
Doctor of Nursing Practice a                  5 10 8 6 16 33 13 15 8
Master of Science            10 7 11 6 8 10 13 12 22 37 21 25 20
Nursing Anesthesia b           - 32 17 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 22
Nursing Midwifery c
          - 21 29 - - - - - - - - - -
Specialties                                    
  Clinical Nurse Leader d,i       1  1 1 2 2          
  Nursing Informatics d,i       1  1 1 1 1          
  Nursing Administration e,i 7 6 3 5  5 3 4 5          
  Nurse Practitioner                             
    Family i 12 5 9 5  8 7 9 11          
    Adult f,g  5 6 8                    
  Gerontological / Geriatric f,g 13 - 8                    
  Adult / Gerontology, Acute Care d,i       8 8 6 3 7          
  Adult / Gerontology, Primary Care d,i       4 8 9 10 11          
  Pediatric, Primary Care h,i - - 15 14 - 11 10 -          
  Psychiatric / Mental Health, Across the Lifespan d,i    8  11 9 6 -          
  Clinical Nurse Specialist                            
    Adult / Medical Surgical g 8 - -                    
    Community / Public Health g 8 - -                    
    Psychiatric / Mental Health g 13 - 7                    
  Doctor of Nursing Practice                          
    Administration / Management j                 - - - -
    Leadership j                 - - - -
    Nurse Practitioner: Adult / Gerontology, Acute Care j         - 9 10 -
    Nurse Practitioner: Adult / Gerontology, Primary Care j         6 5 4 3
    Nurse Practitioner: Family j                 8 4 11 10
    Nurse Practitioner: Pediatric, Primary Care k                 6 - -
    Nurse Practitioner: Psychiatric / Mental Health, Across the Lifespan k         5 4 -
  Master's                          
    Clinical Nurse Leader j, l                 -      
    Nursing Leadership m               2 -
    Nurse Practitioner: Adult / Gerontology, Acute Care j         - - 7 -
    Nurse Practitioner: Adult / Gerontology, Primary Care j         - - - -
    Nurse Practitioner: Family j                 - - - -
    Nurse Practitioner: Pediatric, Primary Care j         - - - -
    Nurse Practitioner: Psychiatric / Mental Health, Across the Lifespan j     - - - -
    Nursing Administration j                 11  - - 2 2
                                       
a new ranking for 2016    
b Nursing Anesthesia ranking last updated for 2024, 2016 ranking shown 2017 through 2023    
c University of Maryland School of Nursing program discontinued in 2008    
d new ranking for 2015    
e specialty named Nursing Service Administration before 2015    
f ranking applies to a combined program at University of Maryland School of Nursing     
g ranking discontinued after 2011    
h specialty named Pediatric before 2015    
i ranking discontinued after 2019    
j new ranking for 2020    
k new ranking for 2022    
l ranking discontinued after 2021    
m new ranking for 2023                
                                       
                                       
    1997 2005 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024                      
School of Pharmacy                                     
Overall   7 8 9 17 9 14 15                      
                                       
                                       
    2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2018 2019 2022 2024                  
School of Social Work                                     
Overall   25 19 18 16 17 17 17  21 24                  
                                       
                                       
    2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024                      
Physical Therapy Program                                    
Overall   - 16 15 19 28 42 58                      
                                       
                                       
    2019 2021 2022 2023 2024                          
Public Health Program a                                    
Overall:   62 60 54 76 68                          
                                       
Ranking expanded in 2019 to include both schools and programs    
                                       
                                       
    2002 2010 2014 2018 2022 2023                        
Graduate Program In The Sciences                                     
Biological Sciences a 113 100 93 90 119 119                        
Chemistry  - 107 106 - 140 136                        
                                       
a ranking not updated for 2023                  

Note: Dates refer to year rankings were released. A dash (-) means UMB program was unranked for that year.

Updated July 23, 2024