はや２月も終わりを告げようとしておりますが、来月10日（火）には2016 US News Best Graduate Schools Rankingの発表が決まりました。あくまでも、ランキングは出願校調査や選択作業における指標の１つとは言え、出願を検討中、もしくは予定している大学の評価は気になるところですね。
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2015/02/17/2016-best-graduate-schools-rankings-coming-soon?int=963108
As part of the 2016 Best Graduate Schools rankings, U.S. News will also rank master’s programs in nursing based on both statistical and reputational data for the first time. In addition, schools will be ranked in 10 nursing specialties based on reputation only. Going forward, U.S. News plans to produce rankings of graduate nursing programs annually.
Detailed statistical data collected about each nursing school will be displayed on searchable directory pages on usnews.com, as well as in the “Best Graduate Schools 2016” print guidebook, on sale at newsstands on April 7.
The 2016 rankings will also include various specialties in business, law, education, engineering and medicine, as well as part-time MBA and part-time law programs.
U.S. News will publish new rankings based on peer assessment only for five selected graduate areas in health, which were last updated in 2011. The disciplines that were surveyed and will be ranked are health care management, physician assistant, public health, rehabilitation counseling and veterinary medicine.
Rankings of doctoral programs in the sciences and the social sciences and humanities, master’s degree programs in public affairs, fine arts and library and information studies, and other graduate programs in health will continue to be available on the site. These rankings are based on earlier published surveys and are labeled with the year that they were originally published.
Explanations of the full Best Graduate Schools ranking methodologies and data used to create all the rankings will also be available March 10.
Extended specialty rankings and complete school data will only be available through the subscription-based U.S. News Graduate School Compass, which will offer the most comprehensive information.
U.S. News encourages students to use the Best Graduate Schools rankings as a tool to help choose the right program, not as the sole factor driving their final choice.
Prospective graduate students can use the statistical data that schools report to U.S. News to compare factors such as acceptance rates; scores on the GRE, LSAT, MCAT and GMAT; student-faculty ratios; and job placement success upon graduation.
Along with these concrete measures, other factors to consider include a school’s course offerings and department culture, a student’s total cost to obtain the degree, the advising or mentoring a student can expect to receive and the school’s location and campus life.
The rankings should be a supplement for careful decision-making, not a substitute.