One interesting feature of the U.S. News rankings is an assessment of academic departments within each national university, both public and private. The magazine reports undergraduate rankings for business and engineering departments, and lists graduate-level rankings for those departments and many others. The list of our fifty universities below is in alphabetical order, and shows the average departmental rankings for each university, using figures from 2013. The lower the number is, the higher the average departmental rank will be.
Rankings for graduate programs are a good indication of the quality of undergraduate programs at the same university, although graduate rankings in some subjects, such as business, can vary significantly from undergraduate assessments. The departments included in the average here, other than undergraduate business and engineering, are the following graduate departments: biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, economics, education, English, history, math, physics, political science, psychology, and sociology.
These departmental rankings can be important in choosing an honors program or college, but they should not be determinative, because the quality of undergraduate instruction may be better at universities that do not have the intensive focus on research that is so important to graduate rankings. Choosing an honors program or college requires not only an assessment of academic strength but also a personal sense that the honors program or college itself is centered on undergraduate excellence and achievement.
The figures below reflect national rankings for public and private universities.
The universities among the Fifty that have the best national averages for all fifteen academic departments listed above are the following: Michigan (9.13); Wisconsin (12.13); UCLA (12.86); Texas (13.93); Illinois (19.87); Washington (20.07); Minnesota (22.67) UC San Diego (22.85); North Carolina (24.87); Ohio State (25.47); Penn State (26.07); Maryland (27.8); Indiana (29.36); UC Davis (30.07); and Virginia (31.93). Revised February 19, 2012. Note: some universities below have as few as six departments that are ranked by U.S. News. The rankings in parentheses are national rankings.
Business (2013): Michigan (3); Virginia (5); North Carolina (7); Texas (7); Indiana (11); Illinois (14); Ohio State (17); Minnesota (17); Wisconsin (17).
Engineering: (2013): Georgia Tech (5); Illinois (5); Michigan (7); Purdue (10); Texas (10); Wisconsin (13); Penn State (16); Texas A&M (16); UCLA (20).
Biological Sciences: UC San Diego (15); Washington (15); Michigan (20); UC Davis (20); UCLA (24).
Chemistry: Illinois (6); Wisconsin (7); Texas (12); North Carolina (13); Michigan (16); UCLA (16).
Computer Science: Illinois (5); Washington (7); Texas (8); Georgia Tech (10); Wisconsin (11).
Earth Sciences: Penn State (6); Arizona (7); Michigan (9); Texas (9); Washington (13); Wisconsin (13).
Economics: Minnesota (10); Wisconsin (11); Michigan (12); UCLA (14); UC San Diego (14)
Education: Texas (2); UCLA (6); Oregon (8); Michigan (9); Washington (9); Wisconsin (9).
English: Virginia (10); UCLA (10); Michigan (13); Rutgers (17); Texas (17).
History: Michigan (7); UCLA (9); North Carolina (12); Wisconsin (14); Texas (17).
Math: Michigan (8); UCLA (8); Texas (14); Wisconsin (16); Minnesota (18).
Physics: Illinois (9); UC Santa Barbara (10); Michigan (11); Texas (14); UC San Diego (14).
Political Science: Michigan (4); UC San Diego (7); North Carolina (13); Wisconsin (15); Minnesota (17); Ohio State (17).
Psychology: Michigan (3); UCLA (3); Illinois (7); Minnesota (8); Wisconsin (8).
Sociology: Wisconsin (2); Michigan (3); North Carolina (5); UCLA (9); Indiana (11).
Below are the departmental averages for all 50 universities that we are reviewing: The mean average for all 50 universities is 51.52, with 9.13 being the best average national ranking.
University Dept Av
Alabama 99.00
Arizona 38.80
Arizona State 47.53
Arkansas 116.20
Auburn 91.09
Binghamton SUNY 92.17
Clemson 100.33
Colorado 37.93
Connecticut 69.87
Delaware 72.08
Florida 44.00
Georgia 60.27
Georgia Tech 32.78
Illinois 19.87
Indiana 29.36
Iowa 45.27
Iowa state 70.57
Kansas 61.00
Maryland 27.80
Massachusetts 48.93
Michigan 9.13
Michigan State 43.33
Minnesota 22.67
Mississippi 121.75
Missouri 72.80
Nebraska 64.93
North Carolina 24.87
NC State 59.55
Ohio State 25.47
Oregon 49.64
Penn State 26.07
Pitt 46.40
Purdue 41.60
Rutgers 43.80
South Carolina 85.13
Stony Brook 50.07
Texas A&M 44.33
UC Davis 32.38
UC Irvine 34.54
UCLA 12.86
UC San Diego 21.21
UC Santa Barbara 37.07
Univ at Buffalo 73.86
UT Austin 12.93
Vermont 108.67
Virginia 31.93
Virginia Tech 57.33
Washington 20.07
Washington State 83.64
Wisconsin 12.13