Ohio State graduate programs score high marks from U.S. News & World Report

Sixteen of The Ohio State University’s graduate and professional programs are ranked in the top 10 in their fields in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report 2022 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools.

Seven colleges have top 10 graduate and professional programs in the latest rankings: the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business (Fisher), Education and Human Ecology, Engineering, Law (Moritz), Nursing, and Public Affairs (John Glenn). U.S. News’ rankings of graduate and professional programs cover just a small portion of the programs offered at Ohio State, and not all programs are ranked each year.

“The excellence displayed across the university reflects Ohio State’s focus on developing the next generation of leaders throughout society,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce A. McPheron. “Our comprehensive scope and focus on collaboration across disciplines acts as a force multiplier, preparing our graduate and professional students for leadership roles.”

Ohio State enrolls more than 14,000 graduate and professional students in 90 doctoral and 110 master's programs.

The Top 10 graduate and professional programs include dispute resolution (2), pediatric primary care nurse practitioner (3), business supply chain/logistics (4), psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner (5), student counseling and personnel (5), doctor of nursing practice: administration (6), higher education administration (8), public management and leadership (8), education administration and supervision (9), business production/operations (9), nursing master’s (9), adult/gerontological primary care nurse practitioner (10), biological/agricultural engineering (10), part-time MBA (10), social stratification (10) and sociology of population (10).

Below are some highlights from U.S. News’ 2022 rankings of Ohio State graduate programs, by college.

The College of Arts and Sciences has five of its social sciences and humanities programs newly ranked this year. Political science is ranked 17th, sociology is ranked 18th, and economics, English and history are each ranked 30th among programs in the United States. Additionally, political science, which ranks sixth among programs at public universities, houses top specialties in American politics (11), international politics (12), political methodology (13) and comparative politics (20). Sociology, ranking eighth among programs at public universities, boasts two specialties ranked 10th in the nation: social stratification and sociology of population. Finally, English’s specialty in American literature after 1865 is ranked 13th.

Led by its MBA for Working Professionals Program (WPMBA), Fisher College of Business is home to two graduate programs highly ranked in the 2022 list. The WPMBA program was 10th among all U.S. programs (rising three spots), and fifth among U.S. publics — up two spots. Its full-time MBA program was 14th among U.S. publics. In addition, several specialty areas were highly ranked: supply chain management (4) and productions/operations (9).

The College of Education and Human Ecology ranks 28 out of 277 graduate education programs nationwide, putting it in the top 10% of similar programs. Three of its specialty graduate education programs were ranked in the top 10 nationally, and four additional programs made the top 20 list.

The College of Engineering’s graduate program is ranked first in Ohio and 16th among all public universities. Several departments within the college also placed among the top programs in the nation. The Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering ranked 10th among its peers within American universities. The Department of Materials Science and Engineering retained its rank of 12th overall. Other top 25 engineering disciplines at Ohio State include nuclear engineering (15), industrial/manufacturing engineering (16), aerospace engineering (19) and computer engineering (22). Overall, 216 engineering schools that grant doctoral degrees were surveyed. Ohio State Engineering is ranked 30th overall.

Moritz College of Law ranked best in Ohio and 40th in the nation out of 193 accredited law schools. The specialty program in dispute resolution is ranked second in the nation and five programs rank in the top 25 in the country: dispute resolution, criminal law, contract law, health law, and legal writing.

The College of Medicine ranked 28th in the ranking of Best Medical Schools–Primary Care, moving up 10 spots versus last year, and ranked 33rd among Best Medical Schools–Research, moving up one spot. In addition, Ohio State ranked seventh for Most Diverse Medical Schools, a new category this year. Specialty programs in surgery ranked 17th, anesthesiology ranked 18th and pediatrics ranked 21st. This recognizes the College of Medicine as one of the most diverse institutions in the country, providing top-tier medical and graduate education programs.

The College of Nursing’s master of science in nursing and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) programs were recognized for excellence in academic rigor and outcomes, with several specialization tracks singled out as top-five programs among public institutions. The rankings included ninth overall and third among public colleges for the master of science in nursing and 18th overall and eighth among public colleges for the DNP programs. This is the third consecutive year that the College of Nursing’s master’s program ranks in the nation’s top 10 and that its DNP program ranks in the nation’s top 20.

The John Glenn College of Public Affairs is ranked 13th in the country out of 285 ranked schools, placing it among the top 5% of public affairs graduate professional degree programs. No other public affairs program in Ohio is ranked in the top 50 schools. The college is also rated in eight out of 12 specialties ranked by U.S. News.

The College of Public Health is ranked first in Ohio and in the top 25 in the nation among 188 public health schools and programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health. The college’s specialty program in health care management — the Master of Health Administration — was also ranked first in the state and seventh overall in the most recent analysis of those programs.

A number of Ohio State programs earned high marks in previous years and the magazine reprints rankings from previous years in some fields.