ADVERTISEMENT

OT: US News Grad School rankings 2020

CrazyPaco

CrazyPaco

Athletic Director
Jul 5, 2001
15,850
8,070
113
Here are Pitt's new graduate program rankings (only new rankings that are currently publicly available) with changes in parentheses (/= no change, += improvement, -=downward move, n/r= ranking not made in prior year)

For comparison of trends and to see areas not ranked this year, last year's post is available here.

Pitt Nursing
#9 (-4) Doctoral
#12 (-5) Masters
Specialties
#4 (/) nursing-anesthesia (ranked in 2016)
#7 (-3) clinical nurse leader
#7 (-1) nurse practitioner pediatric primary care
#7 (n/r) nurse practitioner psychiatric/mental health
#9 (-2) nurse practitioner gerontology acute care
#10 (/) nursing administration
#35 (-12) online masters in nursing
nr nursing informatics (fell out of ranking from #7)

Pitt Med
#13 (+1) Overall (research)
#14 (/) Primary Care
Specialties
#8 (-2) women's health
#10 (+3) pediatrics
#8 (+1) psychiatry
#11 (-1) surgery

Pitt Public Health
#13 (/) (last known rank was in 2007)

Pitt Rehabilitation Counseling
#20 (don't know last time ranked)

Pitt Education
#35 (-1)
Online grad education #22 (+6)

Pitt Social Work
#17 (-6)

Pitt health care management
#17 (don't know if this was ranked before)

Pitt Public Affairs
#35 (-1)
Specialties
#10 (-3) international global policy & administration
#29 (+8) public management & leadership
n/r (-3) local government management (fell out of rankings)

Pitt Business (Katz)
#43 (+9)
Part-time MBA #48 (+8)

Pitt Engineering (Swanson)
#47 (/)

Pitt Law
#77 (-3)
Specialties
not yet public

Pitt Physician's Assistant
#93 (don't know last time ranked)


I'll fill in more if they become publicly available
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: sween73
Social Work and Nursing are falling, Katz is rising, Law still unacceptable.
 
Last edited:
CrazyPaco said:
PT was last ranked in 2016. No new rankings for that yet. Just so it is clear above, in my initial post I didn't list rankings that weren't new.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I believe the rankings I showed were the latest rankings in each category and depending on the category, the latest ranking is from somewhere between 2016 and 2019 ..... how often do they rank each category ? .... some categories were ranked last in 2016, some in 2017 , some 2018 and some 2019.
 
Physician Assistant at #93 is like due to the program being only 5 or so years old. They just moved it from Harmerville to Oakland which should raise its status going forward. Very difficult to get into.
 
goalieman said:
Yeah, I believe the rankings I showed were the latest rankings in each category and depending on the category, the latest ranking is from somewhere between 2016 and 2019 ..... how often do they rank each category ? .... some categories were ranked last in 2016, some in 2017 , some 2018 and some 2019.
Click to expand...

Yes, your link is the latest in each. They rank business, med, engineering, law, nursing, and education every year, and then rotate through the more individual disciplines in the arts & sciences and health sciences. It is like every four years for those.

The more interesting thing for me is watching the trends to see the momentum of the university. There are year to year fluctuations, but if you track them over 5 year periods, that is more telling. You have to be careful about changes in ranking methodology though.
 
I think most know this but I think it is still worth noting that Pitt's healthcare related category rankings (medical school, nursing, audiology, clinical psychology, healthcare management, physical therapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, public health, rehabilitation counseling, social work, speech language pathology) overall are just outstanding .... and hopefully as "LivinWell" said the physician assistant program improves rapidly.
 
CrazyPaco said:
Yes, your link is the latest in each. They rank business, med, engineering, law, nursing, and education every year, and then rotate through the more individual disciplines in the arts & sciences and health sciences. It is like every four years for those.

The more interesting thing for me is watching the trends to see the momentum of the university. There are year to year fluctuations, but if you track them over 5 year periods, that is more telling. You have to be careful about changes in ranking methodology though.
Click to expand...

Thanks ..... I knew they ranked some categories like medical schools yearly.

Also, agree with your second paragraph.
 
goalieman said:
I think most know this but I think it is still worth noting that Pitt's healthcare related category rankings (medical school, nursing, audiology, clinical psychology, healthcare management, physical therapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, public health, rehabilitation counseling, social work, speech language pathology) overall are just outstanding .... and hopefully as "LivinWell" said the physician assistant program improves rapidly.
Click to expand...

Collectively, the health sciences are extremely impressive, and then you factor in that Pitt is now 4th in NIH funding, which is much more quantitative indication of where it really is, Pitt sits at the top of the world in these fields.

The last rank I have for Pitt's PA program was #57 in 2015. So it has dropped a bunch, but it isn't that unusual for a lot of fluctuation in the rankings once you get past the top programs, especially when they are pure reputation based surveys. It will only get stronger.
 
CrazyPaco said:
Collectively, the health sciences are extremely impressive, and then you factor in that Pitt is now 4th in NIH funding, which is much more quantitative indication of where it really is, Pitt sits at the top of the world in these fields.

The last rank I have for Pitt's PA program was #57 in 2015. So it has dropped a bunch, but it isn't that unusual for a lot of fluctuation in the rankings once you get past the top programs, especially when they are pure reputation based surveys. It will only get stronger.
Click to expand...

I love your dedication to Pitt.
But for me I need no validation.
Pitt was /is/ will be #1 forever,
Keep up the great work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Atlanta Panther and Panthergrowl13
My understanding of U.S. News overall school rankings has a lot to do with HS guidance counselors believe it or not. I have been in meetings at Pitt where a trustee has pressed the Chancellor on this and his response has been our entrance scores for incoming students speak for themselves and you need to run a full lobbying campaign at HSs to address this ranking. Better to focus attention elsewhere.

I can tell you from experience with my own kids and their friends - it is much more difficult to get into Pitt than Penn State Main. It just is. In fact, while my daughter is at Pitt my son could not get in but he did get in to PSU Main. Several of his friends at Main also could not get into Pitt.
 
SoufOaklin4Life said:
Not sure why Paco gives it short shrift-
Been consistently among the top 15 for a decade
Click to expand...

Where have I given it short shrift?

I post only new rankings and the change from their last prior rank. The latest US News pharmacy program ranking was done in 2016. US News is relatively new to ranking pharmacy schools. It has only done it once or twice. It didn't do them for a long time, but Pitt Pharmacy has always been viewed as one of the best. That pretty much goes for anything that falls in the health sciences.
 
Last edited:
LivinWell said:
My understanding of U.S. News overall school rankings has a lot to do with HS guidance counselors believe it or not. I have been in meetings at Pitt where a trustee has pressed the Chancellor on this and his response has been our entrance scores for incoming students speak for themselves and you need to run a full lobbying campaign at HSs to address this ranking. Better to focus attention elsewhere.

I can tell you from experience with my own kids and their friends - it is much more difficult to get into Pitt than Penn State Main. It just is. In fact, while my daughter is at Pitt my son could not get in but he did get in to PSU Main. Several of his friends at Main also could not get into Pitt.
Click to expand...

It is much more difficult to get into Pitt, and has been for over a decade, but ignoring the US News rankings, as flawed as they are, is absolutely folly. Ignoring them completely is perhaps not what Gallagher has suggested, as he may only be commenting on the guidance counselor portion, which is now down to 5% of the total score (the same % as alumni giving), although small changes can cause big position changes in rank. But make no mistake, US News is the most influential, and really, the only significant overall undergrad ranking of influence for a school's primary customers: high schools students and their parents. In fact, US News' motives in adding guidance counselor rankings a few years back are pretty transparent, keeping its #1 money maker relevant by essentially marketing it to high school guidance counselors by giving them a modicum of participation, who in turn then push it on...or at least reference it to...their students. Adding the guidance counselor component to the rankings was nonsensical for any other reason. But to Gallagher's point, if this was actually what he meant, resources are likely better applied to other components in the rankings, which will not just improve the ranking scores, but also the university as well.

That said, if Pitt's lack of resources devoted to maintaining that ranking is causing its reputation among that target audience to drop, the admission demand will also drop. The truth of the matter is, entrance scores skyrocketed when Pitt's US News ranking crept up during the 2000s (not that rankings are the only reason for the rise), but entrance scores at Pitt have mostly flattened the last few years (you have to adjust for changes in scoring and compare them to national averages, not just throw out raw numbers like schools tend to do). And yes, I have those numbers if anyone is interested.
 
Last edited:
this thread belongs in the locker room with all the other non Pitt sports topics......
 
Well my daughters Pitt freshman class median ACT score was 28. I thought I saw this years class median was 30.
 
recruitsreadtheseboards said:
My god, so if nothing is improving, why are they scared of football and basketball being good? Let's be a REAL college and screw those rankings and only worry what counts, football and basketball and their recruiting rankings.
Click to expand...
I know this is sarcasm (and i can appreciate good sarcasm... and it's funny too). You may even be mocking some of my posts (but this comment sounds a bit more like channeling Pitt79).

However, reality is that great sports is a big influence on general school rankings, especially a rather unscientific source like US News. Probably more so for undergrad than grad, but nonetheless.

My oldest is a high school junior so I recently went to a college planning seminar taught by a placement consultant. In the section about finding the right school for your child, he listed the top 10 criteria that most people use in assessing a school (of course, this was undergrad, as I noted).

Right there at 6 or 7 was "great sports".

He later went on to note that Northeast US (with PA included) is pretty insular (and more expensive) for college choices. But an oddity is the University of Alabama. There are an unexpected high pct of NE students that go there. Part of that is that they do provide some rather higher merit money vs typical state schools and have an interest to attract more than typical southerners, so Yankees can get surprisingly good packages there. But another reason for the appeal is undeniably their...ta da... high profile football program. It is appealing even outside their usual geographical demo.

Now the usual suspects here can pick this apart at their leisure. And it doesn't seem to particularly hurt Pitt to have crap sports, applicant-wise, etc. But it definitely helps explain rankings and perception. And at the very least it calls into question why Pitt even bothers with having major sports at all, if not committed to having good ones.
 
McKee Place said:
I know this is sarcasm (and i can appreciate good sarcasm... and it's funny too). You may even be mocking some of my posts (but this comment sounds a bit more like channeling Pitt79).

However, reality is that great sports is a big influence on general school rankings, especially a rather unscientific source like US News. Probably more so for undergrad than grad, but nonetheless.

My oldest is a high school junior so I recently went to a college planning seminar taught by a placement consultant. In the section about finding the right school for your child, he listed the top 10 criteria that most people use in assessing a school (of course, this was undergrad, as I noted).

Right there at 6 or 7 was "great sports".

He later went on to note that Northeast US (with PA included) is pretty insular (and more expensive) for college choices. But an oddity is the University of Alabama. There are an unexpected high pct of NE students that go there. Part of that is that they do provide some rather higher merit money vs typical state schools and have an interest to attract more than typical southerners, so Yankees can get surprisingly good packages there. But another reason for the appeal is undeniably their...ta da... high profile football program. It is appealing even outside their usual geographical demo.

Now the usual suspects here can pick this apart at their leisure. And it doesn't seem to particularly hurt Pitt to have crap sports, applicant-wise, etc. But it definitely helps explain rankings and perception. And at the very least it calls into question why Pitt even bothers with having major sports at all, if not committed to having good ones.
Click to expand...

What you think is reality doesn't match actual reality.

Major sports plays a role in general name recognition, but football and basketball success do not significantly impact academic rankings, even at the undergraduate level. There is no correlation.

It is true that Alabama has made a name for itself with huge financial packages for out-of-state students and dumping a ton of money into things like their institutionally granted national merit scholarships, and football prowess helps get people's attention and applications, compared to, say, a sister school like UAB, but their actual academic rankings haven't really budged. In 2008, the year before Nick Saban arrived and 16 years removed from their prior national championship, they were ranked #83 by US News. In the current 2018 rankings they are at #129. Meanwhile, during the exact time period, Boston University moved from #60 to #42 despite having dropped football. Now, I am not going to go down your line of thinking and claim athletic success is inversely proportional to academic reputation based on these anecdotal snapshots, but it is fairly safe to say that five national championships over the last ten years didn't move the needle for Alabama's US News rankings.

There is no reason a school can't be excellent at both academics and athletics, but there is absolutely nothing preventing any school from being excellent in one without the other, as most of the schools in the top 50 will attest.
 
Last edited:
LivinWell said:
Well my daughters Pitt freshman class median ACT score was 28. I thought I saw this years class median was 30.
Click to expand...

Yes, Fall 2019's average ACT was approximately 30.

While more students are taking the ACT, still most Pitt applicants take the SAT and that is the comparison that I have, where this fall's class was the second highest, compared to the national average, in Pitt history (2016 was a hair higher).
SATovertime_zpsri1umdgr.jpg
 
Many Division 3 and expensive FCS schools are increasing their sports teams and offerings in an effort to attract students. I don’t necessarily think the great sports criteria was referring to the record or ranking of the football and men’s basketball teams.
 
CrazyPaco said:
Pitt Public Affairs
#35 (-1)
Specialties
#10 (-3) international global policy & administration
#29 (+8) public management & leadership
n/r (-3) local government management (fell out of rankings)
Click to expand...

I am more than p!ssed. When I graduated from GSPIA (1980) it was a top 10 school. Talk about a degree that has been devalued over the years . . .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lebo77Pitt83
Law was top 50 during my time.

So I toiled through and graduated from a top 50 law school, only for Pitt to screw up and devalue my degree in the 15 years since.

Meanwhile, schools I was accepted into but eschewed for Pitt have skyrocketed in the rankings.
 
TempleBAPittMPA said:
I am more than p!ssed. When I graduated from GSPIA (1980) it was a top 10 school. Talk about a degree that has been devalued over the years . . .
Click to expand...

To be fair, US News didn't publish college rankings until 1983, and not grad rankings probalby until well after that, so GSPIA's top ten status in 1980 was likely from somewhere else with a different methodology (probably based on NRC rankings or funding, etc). The earliest public affairs ranking by US News that I know of is from 1998 and Pitt was ranked in a six-way tie for 20th. So you can't legitimately compare.
 
Last edited:
CrazyPaco said:
To be fair, US News didn't publish college rankings until 1983, and not grad rankings probalby until well after that, so GSPIA's top ten status in 1980 was likely from somewhere else with a different methodology (probably based on NRC rankings or funding, etc). The earliest public affairs ranking by US News that I know of is from 1998 and Pitt was ranked in a six-way tie for 20th. So you can't legitimately compare.
Click to expand...

NASPAA (National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J

If AI is the future I don't want it. SFGate's ACC Power rankings are a joke

Replies
2
Views
1K
Football Board
RaleighPittFan
RaleighPittFan
CrazyPaco

Pitt drops for 4th year in a row in US News rankings

Replies
64
Views
4K
Football Board
Panther_in_Kentucky
P
SteelCityChamps

OT: Pitt Grad School Rankings 2024

Replies
4
Views
1K
Football Board
HailToPitt1985
H
Chris Peak

ACC rankings and game picks (10/17/2024)

Replies
16
Views
1K
Between Fifth And Forbes
persp
persp
P

Sunday Morning Musings

Replies
56
Views
3K
Between Fifth And Forbes
InfoManiac
InfoManiac
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back