Editor's note: Additional rankings were released by U.S. News & World Report. This story has been updated to include those rankings from the College of Science.

Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering recorded one top-five and three top 10 placements in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report’s graduate program rankings.

Eleven of the college’s departments are listed in the rankings, with industrial and systems coming in at No. 4, environmental at No. 7, and civil at No. 9. They were among 16 total Virginia Tech programs to make the list.

“Virginia Tech’s engineering research portfolio continues to grow because we are able to attract the best and brightest graduate students that are recognized by industry and society as making impacts in a broad array of research areas,” said Jack Lesko, associate dean of research and graduate studies for Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. “Notable, through research and teaching strengths, our graduate programs in industrial and systems engineering, and civil and environmental engineering continue to remain steadfast as top 10 ranked programs in the country.”

U.S. News & World Report’s rankings were released March 12. Published annually since 1987, they are based on several categories of data gathered from the surveyed schools, plus peer assessments by deans, senior faculty, and other professionals in their respective fields. Rankings of departments or specialty programs are based solely on peer assessments.

Pamplin College of Business’ part-time MBA program made the top-15 list with a No. 14 ranking, while the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine notched a top-20 placement at 17. The College of Architecture and Urban Studies’ public affairs program was ranked 39 and the university’s public health program came in at 89.

In the College of Science, the Department of Geosciences was ranked 28 under Earth Sciences. In the Department of Psychology, U.S. News & World Report had two rankings – with clinical psychology at 47, and psychology at 81. Additional ranked departments include economics at 59, statistics at 61, physics also at 61, mathematics at 62, chemistry at 67, and biological sciences at 73.

Virginia Tech’s 170 graduate degree programs offer students the opportunity to develop skills and experiences to tackle complex problems within their communities, whether local, regional, or global.

“Graduate education remains critical to the advancement of knowledge in addressing the interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary questions facing society today as well as in the application of knowledge in these very important academic disciplines,” said Vice President and Dean for Graduate Education Karen P. DePauw.

All graduate students at Virginia Tech have access to the Graduate School’s programs and services, which aim to provide students with a transformative graduate education experience. Those include training for graduate teaching assistants, supporting interdisciplinary research, and offering a range of courses, such as communicating science, community-oriented scholarship, global research, and preparation as future faculty and career professionals.

— Written by Travis Williams

