Ten departments at the UA have ranked in the Top 10 of the U.S. News and World Report’s annual study, to be published Monday.

Pharmacy, speech and language and information systems all made the top 10 programs in the country in their respective fields.

The College of Pharmacy has been one of the best pharmacy programs in the world and that the rankings help attract the top students in the country, said J. Bootman, dean of the College of Pharmacy, which came in No. 4, making it the highest-ranked UA program.

“”We strive to develop a program that trains the best graduate students in the world,”” he said.

Bootman said the ranking is a continuing benchmark of the college’s performance.

The rankings will be published in Monday’s issue of U.S. News and World Report magazine and in the “”America’s Best Graduate Schools Guidebook.””

The rankings are based on expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students, according to the U.S. News and World Report Web site.

The high rankings can help bring attention to the departments, said Susan Beck, department head of geosciences, which was ranked No. 8.

Often times, the rankings translate not only into attention, but also money.

“”Any time we can show we are one of the best programs in the country, it helps in recruiting top graduate students and faculty and with grant funding,”” Beck said.

Still, some colleges don’t know how accurate the rankings really are.

“”We have outstanding faculty and a long tradition for excellence in geoscience (in the country),”” said Mary Poulton, department head of mining and geological engineering. The department was unranked, but is associated with the UA’s geology program, which was ranked No. 7.

“”The only surprise is that we’re not No. 1 every year,”” she said.