U.S. News and World Report rankings may not be the reason Dilshani Sarathchandra came to MSU, but rankings in recent years have made her confident that any degree from MSU will be received with respect when she leaves the institution.
MSU has received recognition by U.S. News in about 35 graduate programs currently listed on its website.
“It makes me happy,” said Sarathchandra, a graduate student. “It gives an added value to the quality of the education.”
In some areas, such as secondary and elementary teacher education, MSU regularly has ranked first in the country since U.S. News began ranking graduate schools, Robert Floden, associate dean for research for the College of Education said.
MSU also has ranked high in areas such as the supply chain and logistics program and is among the best medical schools for primary care.
“Michigan State is a highly regarded university,” Floden said. “(The rankings) show the respect that other universities hold for the programs at Michigan State.”
One program that suffered a significant drop in the rankings is MSU’s speech pathology program, which fell from a ranking of 46 to a ranking of 62.
All programs are rated on different criteria and about 1,200 graduate programs were analyzed by U.S. News for the rankings, according to the website.
But for College of Engineering Dean Satish Udpa, even small success in the rankings is important, such as the engineering programs move from 52 to 49.
“It’s a reflection of the quality of the work that’s going on here in the school,” he said. “We are doing well despite the economic time we are living in.”
“If what is in the pipeline is any reflection, we’ll only do better.”
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