Virginia Tech graduate programs receive top rankings from U.S. News & World Report
Nine of the College of Engineering’s programs were among the top 20 in the latest listing of the nation’s top graduate schools.
Virginia Tech’s ongoing commitment to research, teaching, and engagement continue to be reflected in university rankings, as several of the institution’s graduate programs were rated highly in the latest U.S. News & World Report’s annual graduate school rankings released Tuesday.
The university’s top 100 global effort, named Virginia Tech Global Distinction, seeks to make the university a destination for the best faculty, students, and partners from the commonwealth, the nation, and the world. The graduate school rankings reflected that priority.
Graduate programs in the university’s College of Engineering, the Pamplin College of Business, and Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine all earned high marks.
Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering continues to receive national acclaim. Collectively, the college’s programs were rated 31st nationally, and nine of the college’s specialty programs were rated in the top 20 nationally. The environmental and industrial engineering programs led the way, with both being ranked No. 5 nationally.
Most engineering specialty programs in the U.S. News & World Report were ranked based on results from academic peer surveys. Computer science rankings were calculated from qualitative ratings on academic quality submitted by top officials at these schools. Virginia Tech’s computer science graduate program was ranked No. 36 nationally.
“It is our mission to advance the boundaries of engineering knowledge and practice through transdisciplinary research,” said Julie Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Dean of Engineering. “The caliber of our world class education is truly reflected in our students, faculty, and alumni, who are sought globally for their excellence. We invest in the resources that prepare our graduates to solve today’s most complex social and technological challenges in and beyond their communities.”
Virginia Tech’s part-time Evening MBA program, offered by the Pamplin College of Business, was 35th nationally. The program, based in Falls Church, Virginia, holds in-person courses in the evening and offers online elective classes in the summer.
Virginia Tech’s graduate programs in computer science and computer engineering, along with the Pamplin evening MBA program, will be based at the Innovation Campus location in Alexandria, Virginia, starting in spring 2025.
Virginia Tech earned top-100 rankings in several other areas as well, including public affairs (No. 57), education (No. 79) and public health (No. 88). The first two of those programs reside in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, while the public health program is in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, which focuses on three academic programs related to health — Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences Graduate Program, and public health.
In addition, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine ranked tied for 91st nationally among best medical schools for research. U.S. News & World Report based its score for this category on total publications, citations per publication, field weighted citation impact, the share of a medical school’s publications cited in the top 5 percent of the most cited journals, and the share of a medical school's publications cited in the top 25 percent of the most cited journals.
