The University of Georgia College of Education's overall graduate program rose to 21st in the nation in U.S. News and World Report's 2007 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools."

UGA's education graduate program, the highest-ranked graduate program on campus, now ranks among the top 14 public universities in the nation and of those, is second only to the University of Virginia in the South. The COE rose six spots from last year's ranking of 27th to tie with the University of Connecticut and George Washington University at 21st.

"Our rise among the top 20 public research schools of education in the nation is a tribute to the excellence and hard work of both our faculty and students," said Dean Louis Castenell. "It is gratifying that in an increasingly competitive field, we are improving in almost every program. More important than rankings, however, is the continuing fulfillment of our mission to make a positive difference in the lives of children and families."

In specialty programs, six UGA graduate education programs are again ranked in the top 10:
-- Elementary Education 3rd
-- Vocational / Technical 4th
-- Secondary Education 5th
-- Counseling / Personnel Services 5th
-- Higher Education Administration 7th
-- Curriculum / Instruction 9th

Three other UGA graduate education programs are ranked among the top 20 in the nation:
-- Administration/Supervision 20th
-- Educational Psychology 16th
-- Special Education 16th

The report also noted that among the top 50 graduate schools of education, UGA had the second-highest enrollment in graduate teaching programs (1,169) for 2005. Teachers College at Columbia University topped enrollment with 1,602.

With an overall score of 68 out of 100, the College received a peer assessment score of 3.8 out of 5.0 and a superintendent assessment score of 4.1 out of 5.0.

UGA's School of Law moved up two places to 34th and the Terry College of Business at 46th stayed in the top 50

"It is always pleasing when the academic programs at the University of Georgia are recognized for their excellence," said UGA President Michael F. Adams. "Graduate education is an increasingly critical part of UGA's mission and the economy of the state of Georgia. Graduate students play an important role in the UGA research program which generates hundreds of millions of dollars for Georgia , and holders of graduate and professional degrees are well positioned to succeed in the knowledge economy."

Maureen Grasso, dean of UGA's Graduate School, agreed. “These rankings reflect the high quality of work we're engaged in and our commitment to superior graduate education. We are delighted with this acknowledgement as we continue to promote innovative research and prepare future leaders,” Grasso said.

The School of Law moved up two places in the rankings to number 34. School of Law Dean Rebecca H. White said that while she takes all rankings with a grain of salt, she was pleased with the move. "We don't need U.S. News and World Report to tell us that the University of Georgia has one of the country's best law schools. However, it is nice to be publicly recognized by an independent source as such."

The Terry College of Business maintained its top 50 position in the U.S. News ranking of graduate business programs. Ranked 46th, Terry's average starting salary and bonus for 2005 MBA graduates improved by more than $7,000 -- to $75,349 -- over the previous year.

“We're always pleased to be counted among the nation's most highly regarded MBA programs,” said Dean P. George Benson of the Terry College . “Because we're a very selective program, we've recently been able to put in place an extensive personalized leadership development program that includes one-on-one professional coaches for all our students. Larger MBA programs can't even attempt such offerings. The Terry MBA now delivers both the business expertise that's expected, and the leadership skills and behaviors that companies are telling us they want. We're confident that our emphasis on leadership will make our graduates even more competitive in the job market.”

UGA also ranked 40th among Ph.D. programs in the sciences. In the biological sciences specialties, ecology/evolutionary biology and microbiology tied for eighth.

The rankings will be available online at www.usnews.com beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday, March 31. The full rankings will be available in book form Monday, April 3, with excerpts in the April 10 issue of the magazine. (Also available on the U.S. News Web site is the rankings methodology.)

© 2006 University of Georgia