Providing an insight into the quality of higher education, U.S. News & World Report will release its annual graduate school rankings today, including those for the University's business, medicine, education, law, nursing and engineering programs.
Overall, the University's scores are lower than last year's, though some gains were made.
Darden dropped a spot from last year, coming in at 11th overall among business schools. Its management program fell one place as well, going from sixth to seventh.
Darden Spokesperson Phil Giaramita expressed his disappointment with the business school's placement in the rankings.
"Our scores were clearly not acceptable," he said. "We need to have new initiatives to get our school and students known."
Looking to the future, Giaramita added that the report provides an important way to evaluate progress.
"Scores are always helpful because they point out areas where you need to improve," he said. "There's no reason why Darden could not consistently be in the top 10."
The School of Medicine maintained its 27th research ranking and moved up one spot into a tie at 26th for primary care.
This year's rankings are "virtually identical" to those in the past and therefore unlikely to influence potential applicants, Director of Medical School Admissions Beth Bailey said.
"As far as I can tell, this isn't going to have any effect," she said.
The Curry School of Education tied at 21st overall, down two from its previous ranking of 19th. In fields of special and secondary education, the school came in at fifth and eighth respectively, in both cases dropping one spot.
Such small changes in positions are insignificant compared to general placement, Curry School Dean David Breneman said.
"Year to year fluctuations of one or two spaces is basically noise in the system," he said.
The University's overall trend toward lower rankings could be attributed to a lack of funds, Breneman added.
"We've gone two years without hiring anybody," he said. "The economic situation here in Virginia hurts us."
The School of Law received a ninth place ranking, falling two spots.
The School of Nursing was given its highest individual ranking for psychiatric training, improving three positions to tie at fifth. The school also tied at sixth in a new category for adult medical surgery and 26th for masters' programs, a drop of five spots. The pediatric nursing program came in at ninth, maintaining its previous position.
Rounding out the University's rankings, the School of Engineering fell from 35th to a tie for 38th.
Acknowledging the popularity of rankings among magazine readers, Breneman said that it is impossible to quantitatively evaluate academic programs.
"I think the thing that is silly about them is that they give spurious significance to small factors," he said. "There is very little difference between adjacent positions."
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