Purdue’s engineering programs ranked among best

Purdue University’s reputation as a top engineering school was bolstered by a report released Tuesday, which ranked several of its graduate programs among the best nationwide.

U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 Best Graduate Schools pushed Purdue’s College of Engineering up two spots to sixth — a four-way tie among the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan — and ranked its online engineering program fourth in the country.

Purdue’s agricultural and biological engineering program was ranked first, while its aeronautical/astronautical and civil engineering programs were ranked sixth.

The industrial, manufacturing and mechanical engineering programs were ranked eighth, and the electrical engineering program was ranked 10th.

Factors such as standardized testing scores, employment outcomes for graduates and acceptance rates were used in the ranking methodology for most disciplines, according to a U.S. News release.

“Rankings provide external validation and, as such, we take pride in them,” Provost Debasish Dutta said in an email Monday. “At the same time, it’s important to put rankings in their proper perspective and realize the value they hold in terms of what they measure and how they measure it. That’s why we look at several measures, such as we have done with the Gallup-Purdue Index, to ensure we are looking at a variety of factors that lead to student success, educational quality and value.”

Several other programs either just made or just missed the top 50, including Purdue’s College of Education, which was ranked 38th among schools of education.

The Krannert School of Management dropped 13 spots from last year’s rankings of best business schools. It missed the top 50 by three spots, although the school ranked seventh for its graduate degrees in production and operations.

Despite the drastic drop, Dutta pointed to Krannert’s recent ranking as one of the top 10 business schools nationally by the Financial Times to exemplify the difference between ranking systems.

“There are a number of ways to measure national prominence,” Dutta said. “I think when you look at the landscape of measures and rankings ... Purdue is seen as a prominent institution across the board.”

The College of Health and Human Science’s master’s degrees in nursing were ranked 58th.

PURDUE GRADUATE PROGRAM RANKINGS

U.S. News and World Report released its 2016 Best Graduate Schools Tuesday. Here is how Purdue colleges and programs were ranked.

College of Engineering — 6th

Biological/Agricultural Engineering — 1st

Aeronuatical/Astronautical Engineering — 6th

Civil Engineering — 6th

Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering — 8th

Mechanical Engineering — 8th

Electrical Engineering — 10th

College of Education — 38th

Krannert School of Management — 53nd

Production/Operations — 7th

College of Health and Human Sciences

Nursing — 58th

Online programs

Engineering — 4th

Education — 54th