U.S. News and World Report magazine recently published its 2004 "America's Best Graduate Schools" edition. Several of Boston College's graduate schools received high marks from the magazine, which ranks schools of business, law, medicine, education, engineering, and humanities.
Both the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) and the Connell School of Nursing (CSON) were ranked 19th. The Law School was ranked 22nd, with the Lynch School of Educatoin (LSOE) ranked 24th. The Carroll Graduate School of Managment (CGSOM) was ranked 41st.
In the health discipline's medical school category, the BC GSSW was ranked 19th. The GSSW was tied for that place with Boston University, Bryn Mawr College, SUNY-Albany, University of Kansas, and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
The number one ranked school for social work was University of Michigan.
CSON was also ranked 19 among graduate nursing schools, tying with Columbia University, Ohio State University, Rush University, University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of Texas-Austin, and University of Wisconsin-Madison for that rank. University of Washington earned the number one ranking for nursing schools.
As health disciplines, GSSW and CSON were not subject to the same parameters as research and primary care medical schools. According to U.S. News and World Report's methodology disclaimer, rankings for schools of social work and nursing as well as many others, "are based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators, and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline."
"Every year, I get a list of about 400 schools to rank," said Robert Taggart, associate dean at the Carroll Graduate School of Management (CGSOM). Ranks for all schools are based in part by peer assessment surveys.
The survey asks respondents to rank programs on a five-point scale: a score of five denotes an outstanding program, while a score of one denotes a marginal program. GSSW received a 3.3 peer assessment, while CSON scored a 3.9.
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