UMass Amherst Graduate Engineering Programs Recognized in US News & World Report Rankings
UMass Amherst graduate engineering programs place among the best in the country in the U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings for 2024, which were announced June 18. UMass Amherst is the only public university in New England to place in the top 50, and most of its College of Engineering doctoral degree programs also made significant gains over last year’s rankings.
Each year, U.S. News ranks more than 800 institutions with a variety of graduate programs in six prominent fields: business, nursing, education, engineering, law and medicine. The Best Graduate Schools rankings for 15 other academic disciplines were published in April.
Overall, the College of Engineering moved up seven spots from last year to reach the top 25% at No. 48, tied with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Florida.
Nine engineering specialty areas that offer doctoral degrees rank between No. 35 and No. 69 for 2024. Notably, four engineering specialties—chemical, industrial, computer and materials—place in the top 40. Chemical engineering ranks 35th, followed by industrial at No. 36; computer at No. 38, up six spots from 2023; and materials at No. 40, which climbed significantly from its No. 57 spot last year.
Environmental engineering ranks at No. 41; civil at No. 48; and electrical at No. 53. Other specialty areas that also place higher this year include mechanical at No. 56, up five spots; and the relatively new biomedical engineering program, which was founded in 2017, placed 69th, a 10-spot improvement from 2023.
This year’s rankings were based on U.S. News survey responses from 199 engineering doctoral degree programs between fall 2023 and early 2024. U.S. News compare schools on their research activity, faculty resources, academic achievements of entering students, and assessments by other engineering schools and employers.
The complete list can be found on U.S. News and World Reports’ site here, and more information about how the rankings were calculated can be found on its methodology site.