Going to requires people to bet on their own potential for professional growth – and it's a move that can dramatically increase annual salaries. The median annual earnings of a full-time worker with a professional degree is $49,500 higher than the median income of an individual who only has a bachelor's degree, according to a 2016 report by the College Board. In addition to financial benefits, a graduate degree can also lead to professional advancement or a career change.
Calculating the potential for graduate school is one necessary step in deciding whether to attend, and it can also clarify what type of degree would be most marketable. Prospective students can refer to the U.S. News rankings, released today, for guidance on identifying the right program to accelerate their career. The 2018 edition of the rankings evaluates graduate schools of business, law, medicine, nursing, engineering and education. These schools are rated based on a variety of factors, including acceptance rates, standardized test scores and grade-point averages of incoming students, and academic experts' opinions about program excellence. For the business, law, medicine, education and engineering rankings, U.S. News also incorporated feedback from hiring managers who assessed how well those programs prepared students for the working world.
Each discipline's varies to take into account program differences. Business: tied for the No. 1 spot in the full-time with the at the University of Pennsylvania, which moved up from No.
20th Overall 1st in Graphics: User Interaction. The most recent ranking of computer science graduate programs by US News & World Report was published in its May 2010.
This in turn bumped the at the University of Chicago down one spot to No. Fell from a tie at No. 2 last year to a three-way tie at No.
The at New York University, whose rank was negatively affected last year due to on the U.S. News survey, jumped up eight spots this year, rising from No. 20 to a tie at No.
The at Pepperdine University also rose in the rankings, soaring 18 spots from a tie at No. 83 to a tie at No. Among, the at the University of California—Berkeley once again claimed the No.1 title, followed by Chicago's Booth School of Business. The NYU Stern School of Business and the at the University of California—Los Angeles are tied at No. Law: The hierarchy of the shifted slightly this year.
Is No.1 again, and is still No. 2, but, which was previously tied for No. 2, dropped to the No. Both and the at Northwestern University cracked the top 10 this year, tying at No. The fell out of the top 10, landing at No.
University Rankings
Farther down the list, climbed 12 spots, rising from a tie at No. 40 to a tie at No. Among, the No.
1 school is, as it was last year, but and switched places this year, with the former taking second place and the latter taking third place. Medicine: In the medical school rankings, was once again No.1, followed by and.
The and the University of Pennsylvania's, which both tied with Johns Hopkins for third place last year, are now ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. In the rankings of medicine programs, the top three schools remained the same, with the at No.1, the at No. 2 and UC—San Francisco at No. Fell in the primary care rankings, dropping from No. 8 to a tie at No. 34, and so did, which went from No. Nursing: Among, there were significant changes at the top of the rankings.
1 spot this year, climbing three spots from last year, when it was tied at fourth place., which was No. 1 last year, is now in second place and the, which was No. 2 last year, is now in third place. In the rankings of programs, Duke claimed the No.1 title, swapping spots with the, which is now in third place. Engineering: The top four spots in the were claimed by the same schools as last year with the at No.1, at No. 3, and the at No. Education: took the No.
1 title from, which is now in second place among. The now ties for third place, eight spots higher than where it ranked last year. Searching for a grad school? Access our of Best Graduate Schools.