U.S. News & World Report today unveiled its 2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings, showcasing a number of The University of New Mexico's graduate programs. UNM has several programs in the top 100 with Nursing Midwifery leading the pack at No. 11. Overall, 15 UNM colleges/schools and or programs were ranked in the top 100.
The rankings focus only on graduate programs, as opposed to other rankings released from U.S. News and World Report that focus on undergraduate and online programs. The publication releases rankings every year but focuses on different programs with each release. Publication of the Best Graduate Schools rankings for Engineering, Medicine, and Clinical Psychology, which were scheduled to be a part of this latest release, have been delayed as described in this announcement. Those rankings will be released at a later date.
The academic disciplines ranked in this set of rankings in which schools submitted statistical surveys include Business (both full-time and part-time), Education, Law (both full-time and part-time) and Nursing (both MSN and DNP).
Other UNM programs ranked in the top 100 include:
- Education, No. 86
- Business (part-time MBA), No. 87
- Law (Full-time), No. 94
- Clinical Training – No. 19
- Constitutional Law – No. 88
- Contracts/Commercial Law – No. 91
- Criminal Law – No. 92
- Dispute Resolution – No. 57
- Environmental Law – No. 25
In addition, U.S. News & World Report also released survey-based rankings for 11 other disciplines including Public Affairs, Public Health, Social Work, Audiology, Nursing Anesthesia, Nursing Midwifery, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Speech Language Pathology, and Computer Science. The rankings are based solely on surveys of academic leaders in those disciplines.
- Pharmacy, No. 44
- Speech Language Pathology, No. 52
- Occupational Therapy, No. 53
- Physical Therapy, No. 92
- Public Affairs, No. 99
- Computer Science, No. 105
The big movers for UNM include Physical Therapy, up 45 spots, and Speech-Language Pathology, up 20 spots.
In June, the delayed engineering graduate program rankings were released. In those rankings, the UNM School of Engineering was ranked No. 88 in the nation, up from No. 90 in its previous ranking. UNM is the only engineering program in New Mexico to rank in the top 100.
The 2025 U.S. News survey also ranked specialty programs within engineering. UNM was ranked in the following categories:
- Nuclear Engineering – No. 16
- Environmental Engineering – No. 77
- Chemical Engineering – No. 81
- Electrical Engineering – No. 82
- Computer Engineering – No. 82
- Civil Engineering – No. 97
- Mechanical Engineering – No. 106
- Biomedical Engineering – No. 120
Another group of delayed rankings from U.S. News & World Report involved medical school rankings that were released in July. In the category “Best Medical School: Primary Care,” the UNM School of Medicine has been designated as a tier-1 medical school, the highest of the four possible tiers. This tier-1 designation places UNM ahead of the pack, solidifying its place among medical schools as “best of the best.” In the category of “Best Medical Schools: Research,” UNM is ranked tier-3.
Additionally, the UNM School of Medicine achieved the following impressive rankings:
- Diverse Medical Schools – No. 7
- Graduates Practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas – No. 7
- Most Graduates in Primary Care – No. 15
- Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas – No. 26
Each year, U.S. News ranks professional school programs in business, education, law, and nursing, among other fields; plus specialties in each area. The Best Graduate Schools rankings in these areas are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research, and students and their post-graduate outcomes.
Data for the rankings in the four aforementioned disciplines came from statistical surveys of 2,225 programs and from reputation surveys sent to approximately 5,766 academics and 10,941 professionals, conducted in fall 2023 and early 2024.
If you are aware of a UNM program listed in 2024 Best Graduate Schools and do not see it here, email the information to Steve Carr.
** Note: Publication of the Best Graduate Schools rankings for Engineering, Medicine, and Clinical Psychology have been delayed, as described in this announcement. Those rankings have been put on hold and will be released at a later date.