The MSU College of Education's primary- and secondary-education programs each were ranked No. 1 for the 10th consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report's ranking of graduate programs.
"It's always a relief to see we've maintained our ranking," said Cassandra Book, associate dean of the College of Education. "The quality of our program is well-regarded nationwide."
Book said the rankings, which were released Monday, help give the graduate school visibility.
"We're consistently recruiting new faculty and students," she said. "We like to believe there's a lot of substance that underlies the rankings."
In addition to the highly ranked primary- and secondary-education programs, other programs within the college received top-10 rankings. The education school as a whole was ranked 13th overall, improving from 15th last year.
Other colleges and specialty programs were ranked, including the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the College of Human Medicine, the Eli Broad College of Business and Graduate School of Management, the College of Engineering and the MSU-DCL College of Law.
"We are very proud of the highly ranked programs," university spokesman Terry Denbow said. "It's more than commendable - it's outstanding."
Denbow, however, said rankings aren't the sole determinant of excellence. "We see these as indicators," he said.
U.S. News produces the report annually. The report combines many indicators, such as admissions data, faculty research and expert opinions.
"We think it's useful to prospective students and the public at large," said Robert Morse, director of data research at U.S. News & World Report, adding that this is not the only way to rank schools.
"There isn't just one measure. The results are accurate if you understand our methodologies."
The supply chain management specialty in the Eli Broad Business School was ranked second in the nation. Last year, MSU shared the No. 1 slot with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"They tell you generally how you're being perceived by the outside," department chair Robert Nason said. "It's been consistent for so many years that it is telling us that the external world thinks we're very good."
