See How Local Graduate Schools Rate in U.S. News Rankings

Graduate school programs at the three major San Diego universities fared well in the U.S. News & World Report rankings.

UC San Diego's biomedical/bioengineering program ranked fourth nationally behind Johns Hopkins, Georgia Tech and Duke. The engineering school overall was 14th.

Other high rankings for the La Jolla university included behavioral neuroscience and cognitive psychology, third; plasma physics, fifth; neuroscience/neurobiology, seventh; political science, seventh; AIDS research, eighth, and drug and alcohol abuse, eighth.

“It's an honor to have the stellar academic quality of our graduate programs recognized each year by U.S. News,” said Kim Barrett, dean of graduate studies at UC San Diego. “Our world-class faculty continue to generate cutting-edge research and innovative programs that help create today's scholars and tomorrow's leaders.”

Other scores for UCSD programs included fine arts, 13th; computer sciences, 14th; economics, 14th, and earth sciences, 17th.

San Diego State University ranked ninth in rehabilitation counseling, 25th in speech-language pathology, 26th in clinical psychology, 27th in audiology, and 30th in public health.

The University of San Diego's part-time law school ranked 13th nationally. Its nursing program was 50th.

The magazine annually ranks professional school programs based on expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students.

The data come from surveys of administrators at more than 1,200 programs and nearly 15,000 academics and professionals, conducted last fall and early this year.

– City News Service