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February 28, 1997

U.S. News ranks Purdue grad programs among country's best

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Pharmacy, engineering and business programs at Purdue University rank among the top 25 graduate programs in a U.S. News & World Report survey.

The survey ranks Purdue's graduate program in pharmacy fifth in the country. Graduate programs in the Schools of Engineering rank 10th overall in the nation, and the Krannert Graduate School of Management ranks 24th overall.

The eighth edition of U.S. News & World Report's list of "America's Best Graduate Schools" appears in the March 10 issue of the magazine, available on newsstands Monday (3/3). Ranking also are available on the magazine's Web site, https://www.usnews.com

The pharmacy rankings were based on surveys of deans, faculty and administrators at accredited schools that offer a doctorate in pharmacy. The top pharmacy graduate program is the University of California-San Francisco, followed by the University of Texas-Austin, and a tie for third between the University of Kentucky and the University of Michigan. Purdue's program tied for fifth with the University of Minnesota.

"The strength of our program is the result of the hard work and quality of our faculty, the willingness of our students to rise to the challenges of a difficult curriculum, and the support of our program by the Purdue administration," said G. Marc Loudon, associate dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences. "We believe that we are poised to provide, in the coming years, even greater quality of pharmaceutical professional education as the emphasis on our doctor of pharmacy program increases."

The engineering school survey also calculates the five best schools in 12 specialties. Purdue tied for second in agricultural engineering with Cornell; ranked fourth in civil engineering; and ranked second in industrial/manufacturing engineering.

"We are very pleased to once again be recognized by the U.S. News survey as one of the top 10 engineering schools in the country," said Richard J. Schwartz, dean of the Schools of Engineering. "Our reputation as a top program has been built over many years by the quality of our graduates and the research performance of our faculty. The competition in the top 10 listing is intense, with only five out of a possible 100 points separating the top 10 schools."

The engineering schools' rankings were based in part on surveys of engineering school deans and a national survey of 800 practicing engineers. To produce the final rankings, the survey results were combined with statistics such as students' scores on the graduate record exam, research activity, the ratio of full-time graduate students to full-time faculty, and the number of engineering faculty who are members of the National Academy of Engineering.

The graduate engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was ranked first overall for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Stanford University. Other Big Ten schools ranked in the top 10 are the University of Illinois (tied for 3rd) and the University of Michigan (7).

In addition to being No. 24 overall in the country, Purdue's Krannert Graduate School of Management also ranked third in the area of production/operations management.

"Obviously, we are pleased to be recognized as one of the nation's finest business schools," said Dennis J. Weidenaar, dean of the school. "In particular, we are pleased that in an area that we focus on, production/operations management, Krannert is recognized among the top three schools in the nation. We also, however, are sensitive to the fact that there are attributes that are not captured by rankings which are very important to young people interested in acquiring a good management education."

The business school rankings were determined through student selectivity, placement success and reputational surveys of business school deans and corporate recruiters. The survey results were combined with statistical data on placement success and graduation rate to produce the rankings.

The top spot in this year's business school rankings went to Stanford University for the second consecutive year, followed by Harvard University, up from No. 5. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School once again ranked third, followed by MIT's Sloan School of Management. Purdue is one of five Big Ten business schools ranked in the top 25.

Sources: G. Marc Loudon, (765) 494-1462; e-mail, marc.loudon.1@purdue.edu
Richard J. Schwartz, (765) 494-5346; e-mail, schwartz@ecn.purdue.edu
Dennis J. Weidenaar, (765) 494-4366; e-mail, weidend@mgmt.purdue.edu
Writers: Amanda Siegfried, (765) 494-4709; e-mail, amanda_siegfried@purdue.edu
Kate Walker, (765) 494-2073; e-mail, kate_walker@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu


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