Students work in an agricultural and biosystems engineering laboratory. Larger photo. Photo courtesy of the department of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University’s graduate program in agricultural and biosystems engineering has reclaimed the top spot in U.S. News and World Report magazine’s latest rankings of graduate programs.
Iowa State’s program was ranked No. 1 in 2017, No. 2 in 2018 and this year is tied for No. 1 with Indiana’s Purdue University.
“We are thrilled to be back at No. 1,” said Steven Mickelson, the department’s chair and the Charles R. and Jane F. Olsen Professor in Engineering. “I give a lot of the credit to our new facilities and also to the new research facilities we’re developing at the BioCentury Research Farm, the Agricultural Engineering/Agronomy Research Farm and the new Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex that will be going up.”
The facilities are helping to recruit and retain top faculty, including two members of the National Academy of Engineering (Ronald Leonard and Charles Sukup), Mickelson said.
Other highlights from the magazine’s newest graduate rankings go to the College of Veterinary Medicine, which is tied for 11th among public universities; the College of Engineering, which has 10 programs ranked among the top 25 publics; and the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business, which jumped into the top 50 overall programs this year.
Each year, the magazine ranks programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing. Those rankings are based on expert opinions and statistical indicators.
The magazine also periodically ranks programs in the sciences, social sciences, humanities and other disciplines. Those rankings are based on the ratings of academic experts.
The magazine’s latest rankings of Iowa State graduate programs include:
Colleges and schools 2019 rankings:
Business (MBA), tied for 47th overall and tied for 23rd among publics (tied for 79th overall and tied for 43rd among publics last year)
Education, tied for 78th overall and tied for 60th among publics (tied for 89th overall and tied 66th among publics last year)
Engineering, tied for 41st overall and tied for 22nd among publics (tied for 43rd overall and 23rd among publics last year)
Veterinary Medicine, tied for 14th overall and tied for 11th among publics (tied for 13th overall and ninth among publics last year)
Programs and departments:
2019 rankings
Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems Engineering, tied for 24th overall and tied for 17th among publics
Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering, tied for 27th overall and tied for 19th among publics
Chemical Engineering, tied for 32nd overall and tied for 18th among publics
Computer Engineering, tied for 34th overall and tied for 20th among publics
Civil Engineering tied for 36th overall and tied for 23rd among publics
Mechanical Engineering, tied for 37th overall and tied for 20th among publics
Materials Engineering, tied for 37th overall and tied for 23rd among publics
Electrical/Electronic/Communications Engineering, tied for 38th overall and tied for 23rd among publics
Part-time MBA, tied for 81st overall and tied for 53rd among publics
Older rankings
Statistics, tied for 20th overall and 11th among publics
Chemistry, tied for 48th overall and tied for 28th among publics
Physics, tied for 52nd overall and tied for 32nd among publics
Economics, tied for 53rd overall and tied for 28th among publics
Computer Science, tied for 61st overall and tied for 35th among publics
Math, tied for 66th overall and tied for 38th among publics
Biological Sciences, tied for 73rd overall and tied for 39th among publics
Sociology, tied for 80th overall and tied for 55th among publics
Psychology, tied for 90th overall and tied for 56th among publics
History, tied for 98th overall and tied for 59th among publics
Fine Arts, tied for 104th overall and tied for 62nd among publics
English, tied for 108th overall and tied for 69th among publics