A total of 18 UW programs and schools--ranging from drama and creative writing to public health and social work--claimed other top spots. The magazine's "1997 America's Best Graduate Schools" survey appeared in the March 10 issue. Rankings were established through surveys of deans, faculty and administrators at accredited schools in each discipline.
The School of Medicine ranked as the top primary-care medical school, a distinction it has held for the past four years. Its teaching programs in family medicine and rural medicine were also rated the top in the nation.
Other UW graduate and professional programs in the top 10 are: women's health (third); public health (fourth); drama (fourth); internal medicine (fifth); geriatrics (fifth); pediatrics (fifth); health services administration (sixth); social work (sixth); and creative writing (10th).
This is the first year that creative writing programs have been ranked, and the UW claimed a top-10 spot. The ranking comes as the program, which is part of the English department, is about to observe 50 years of creative writing at the UW. Today the program includes 10 full-time faculty.
Also ranked in the U.S. News survey were these UW graduate programs: research-oriented medical school (13th); pharmacy (13th); architecture (19th); education (25th); law (28th); and engineering (28th).
Send a letter to the editor at columns@u.washington.edu.