Public Health, Library Science Top Grad School Rankings

Posted on March 30, 2021

There’s good news for UNC’s graduate schools in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings:

• The Gillings School of Global Public Health is tops in its field among public universities and second overall;

• The School of Information and Library Science has moved up to second in the country;

• The medical and nursing schools continue to hold high rankings; and

• The law school continues its rise — up 21 positions now since 2018.

More than 30 UNC graduate programs were among the top 10 overall or among public universities in their respective categories in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” list for 2022.

Each year, U.S. News ranks business, education, engineering, law, nursing and medical schools and programs across the country based on expert opinions regarding program excellence and statistical indicators measuring the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students.

Periodically, the publication also ranks other disciplines and specialties in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, health and other areas based on academic experts’ ratings.

This year’s list includes academic reputation rankings for public affairs; public health; library and information studies schools; and graduate programs in economics, English, history, sociology, political science, criminology and criminal justice.

Below are additional UNC rankings and specialty listings. The comprehensive list of all “Best Graduate Schools” rankings and data can be found at usnews.com/best-graduate-schools.

 

Gillings School of Global Public Health

• Health doctoral programs, public health, second

 

School of Information and Library Science

• Library and information studies programs, tied for second

Specialty Areas

• Health librarianship, first

• Digital librarianship, tied for second

• Archives and preservation, third

• Services for children and youth, tied for fifth

• Information systems, seventh

• School library media, tied for ninth

 

School of Medicine

Overall

• Primary care, third

• Research, 24th

Specialty Areas

• Family medicine, third

• Obstetrics and gynecology, 13th

• Pediatrics, tied for 19th

• Psychiatry, tied for 17th

• Internal medicine, 26th

Additional Rankings

• Percent of 2012-14 graduates practicing direct patient care in rural areas, 62nd

• Percent of 2012-14 graduates practicing in primary care specialties, tied for 67th

• Percent of 2012-14 graduates practicing direct patient care in health professional shortage areas, 70th

 

School of Nursing

Overall

• Nursing schools, master’s programs, tied for sixth

• Nursing schools – DNP Programs, 11th

Specialty Areas

• Nursing master’s, administration/management – master’s, tied for sixth

• Nursing master’s, nurse practitioner: adult gerontology primary care – master’s, tied for 10th

• Nursing master’s, nurse practitioner: family – master’s, seventh

• Nursing master’s, nurse practitioner: psychiatric/mental health – master’s, fourth

• Nursing DNP, administration/management – DNP, tied for eighth

• Nursing DNP, nurse practitioner: family – DNP, tied for fourth

• Nursing DNP, nurse practitioner: psychiatric/mental health – DNP, tied for third

 

College of Arts and Sciences

Sociology

• Social sciences and humanities doctoral programs – sociology, tied for seventh

Specialty Areas

• Sociology of population, sixth

• Social stratification, 12th

 

History

• Social sciences and humanities doctoral programs – history, tied for 11th

Specialty Areas

• Modern U.S. history, tied for seventh

• U.S. Colonial history, tied for eighth

• Women’s history, tied for ninth

• African American history, tied for 10th

• Latin American history, tied for 10th

• European history, tied for 12th

 

Political Science

• Social sciences and humanities doctoral programs – political science, tied for 12th

Specialty Areas

• American politics, tied for 11th

• Comparative politics, 15th

• Political methodology, tied for 18th

• International politics, tied for 24^th

 

Public Affairs

• Overall, tied for 19th

Specialty Areas

• Local government management, second

• Public management and leadership, tied for 13th

• Environmental policy and management, tied for 14th

• Public policy analysis, tied for 26th

• Public finance and budgeting, tied for 27th

U.S. News ranked Carolina programs in public affairs based in the School of Government and the College of Arts and Sciences’ department of public policy.

 

English

• Social sciences and humanities doctoral programs – English, tied for 20th

Specialty Areas

• American literature after 1865, tied for 13th

Economics

• Social sciences and humanities doctoral programs – economics, overall, tied for 36th

 

Kenan-Flagler Business School

• Overall, 20th

Specialty Areas

• Accounting, ninth

• Real estate, tied for 10th

• Marketing, tied for 14th

• Executive MBA, 14th

• Entrepreneurship, tied for 21st

• General management, 23rd

• International business, tied for 26th

• Finance, tied for 32nd

 

School of Law

• Overall, 24th

Specialty Areas

• Legal writing, tied for ninth

• Contracts/commercial law, tied for 18th

• Criminal law, tied for 18th

• Constitutional law, tied for 20th

• Tax law, tied for 25th

• Business/corporate law, tied for 28th

• Environmental law, tied for 37th

• Health care law, tied for 37th

• Clinical training, tied for 50th

• Intellectual property law, tied for 52nd

• International law, tied for 58th

• Dispute resolution, tied for 77th

• Trial advocacy, tied for 90th

 

School of Education

• Overall, 25th

Specialty Areas

• Special education, tied for 13th

• Educational psychology, tied for 14th

• Student counseling, tied for 15th

• Secondary teacher education, tied for 18th

• Elementary teacher education, 19th

• Education policy, tied for 22nd

• Educational administration, tied for 22nd

• Curriculum and instruction, tied for 25th

 

Engineering

• Overall, tied for 75th

Specialty Areas

• Biomedical engineering/bioengineering (joint department with N.C. State University), tied for 33rd

• Environmental/environmental health engineering, tied for 22nd

The rankings data for business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing schools and programs come from statistical surveys of more than 2,125 programs and from reputation surveys sent to more than 23,000 academics and professionals conducted in fall 2020 and early 2021.

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