Programs among top in nation

KU’s School of Education graduate program in special education continues to rank among the top programs in the nation, according to the 2004 edition of U.S. News America’s Best Graduate Schools.

Among public universities, KU’s special education program ranks first.

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., is the only university ranked higher than KU in special education and is the only private university in that category’s top 10.

The magazine’s special edition ranked KU’s School of Education as tied for 25th among public universities and tied for 35th overall. KU is the only Kansas university listed among the top 50 U.S. schools in teacher preparation.

The magazine’s editors also ranked several KU health programs among the top 10, including the School of Medicine’s master’s program in community health, tied for second among public schools and sixth overall. Two programs jointly operated by the School of Allied Health and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences garnered top rankings: speech-language pathology, seventh, and audiology, tied for ninth. Allied Health’s occupational therapy program tied for eighth.

Other new rankings for 2004 put KU’s master of social work program in the top 20 in the nation, tied for 19th with Boston College, Boston University, Bryn Mawr College, the State University of New York-Albany and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. The School of Nursing is tied for 20th among public schools and tied for 29th among all schools.

Nursing’s graduate program in anesthesia tied for 28th.

KU’s School of Law is ranked 32nd among public schools and 67th among all universities.

U.S. News ranks graduate programs in business, education, engineering, law and medicine, as well as selected programs in other fields.

The book and the April 14 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine, with many of the rankings, go on sale Monday, April 7.