University graduate schools maintained strong positions in the U.S. News & World Report rankings released yesterday afternoon, with some small gains in the Education, Medical and Law Schools.
The Education School tied at 20th overall, moving up one spot from last year's tie at 21st. In the field of secondary education, the school fell two places to 10th, while special education moved up one spot to fourth.
Curry School Dean David Breneman said he was surprised at the higher rankings because the school suffered from financial setbacks that many other schools did not.
"I'm pleased because we've held our position even though we have gone through two or three years without hiring anyone new," Breneman said.
The Medical School moved up two spots in the area of research, to tie at 25th in that category.
"I am especially grateful to our extraordinary faculty," said Arthur Garson Jr., vice president and dean of the Medical School. "Through their efforts we have moved into the ranks of the top-25 research schools for the first time."
In the area of primary care, the Medical School moved back five places to tie at 31st.
The Law School maintained its ninth-place ranking overall while moving up two places in the area of international law, to rank at seventh in the nation.
Helen Snyder, director of annual giving at the Law School, said the rankings are not as important as the quality of the school.
"We actually recently surveyed our alumni, and I think they would say the rankings are not important," she said. "I think our alumni know that we have a really great school, with or without the rankings."
The Law School was first in alumni donations for the 2002-03 year, with the best participation of any school in the top ten, Snyder said.
The Darden School of Business dropped one spot from last year, finishing at 12th overall.
"While it's a minor change I'm not content with the position we have," Darden School Dean Bob Harris said. "I think we have the intent and aspiration to be consistently in the top ten."
Harris said a large component of the U.S. News poll evaluated a school's relationship with recruiters and peer evaluators.
"We have plans in place to increase Darden's impact and brand with these two important constituencies," Harris said.
The Darden management program remained at seventh overall.
"We aspire to be one of the best management schools in the world and again hope to see that ranking improve," Harris said.
The Graduate School of Engineering dropped four places to tie at 42nd. Engineering School administrators could not be reached for comment.
Despite the popularity of polls like U.S. News & World Report, some University officials said the rankings do not accurately represent the quality of a school.
"This is a big money-maker for U.S. News," Breneman said. "Over the years it has definitely improved, but the thing that bothers me is trying to line up colleges in a unitary 1-2-3 ranking. It seems a little phony."
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