UA department heads are not shocked that five graduate programs were ranked in the top 10 in the country.

The U.S. News & World 2016 Report on the Best Graduate Schools ranked the UA’s graduate program for Management Information Systems third amongst all universities and the first out of public universities.

Other nationally ranked graduate programs include the speech-language pathology program in fifth place, rehabilitation counseling in sixth, earth sciences in seventh and pharmacy in 10th. 

“The University of Arizona has incredible programs across the board,” said Zach Brooks, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council. “We have really good professors who are dedicated, smart and know how to teach.”

Brooks said he thinks high rankings like these not only shows the hard work of committed professors but will help with recruitment as well.

The UA’s Speech-Language Pathology graduate program, housed in the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences department, was ranked fifth overall in the nation.

“I’m not surprised; we’ve been in the top 10 for around 30 years,” said Pelagie Beeson, current head of the SLHS department.

Beeson has worked at the UA for more than the past quarter century and explained that the rankings change periodically or in five-year intervals.

One possible reason for a continuously high ranking, Beeson said, is the shift in focus toward a research-oriented program in the field at the same time that the UA shifted toward being a Research I Institution.

Even before she even came to the university, she said it was clear to her that the UA was emerging as a strong research institution, which has continued to grow stronger every year.

“We maintain active research in our area and really try to consistently engage students,” Beeson said. “We have a lot of good teachers, which leads to student success and appreciation.”  

Beeson said the UA has always had a variety of strong programs, such as the seventh-ranked earth sciences program. 

Peter Reiners, head of the geosciences department, said he thinks that high rankings attract excellent graduate students, which is important.

Reiners said he needs to credit all the programs within and close to earth sciences.

Reiners, who joked they aren’t ranked high enough, said he was not surprised at all, because the UA has always been ranked excellently.

“Awesome faculty, fantastic grad students and a few really legendary star scientists who have discovered some amazing things have really been influential in putting Arizona on the map,” Reiners said.

The UA had over 30 other UA graduate programs ranking within the top 50 in their respective categories.

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