Illinois' Best Grad Schools For 2019

U.S. News & World Report released its rankings of best graduate schools in the country for 2019, and several Illinois graduate schools ranked high across the disciplines evaluated by the publication.

The six major disciplines U.S. News looked at were: business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing. One Illinois school — University of Chicago — ranked among the top five nationwide in two categories. The university also ranked No. 3 among top schools for getting an MBA in the nation, while Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management came in at No. 4.

Related: The University of Chicago Ranked Third Best University in Nation (2016)

“Prospective students can choose from a range of options to continue their education,” Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News, said in a press release. “The graduate school rankings and data are a great starting point for applicants to find the program that’s the best fit for them academically and financially.”

As U.S. News explains, certain professions like law and medicine require a graduate level credential and in other fields it may not be required but makes a person more marketable.

To determine the rankings, U.S. News used expert opinions and statistical indicators. In the fall of 2017 and in early 2018, U.S. News conducted surveys of over 2000 programs and reputation surveys sent to academics and professionals. Statistical indicators varied based on discipline and U.S. News used both input and output measures. For example, in the business category, starting salary was an output measure while GMAT score was an input measure. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

Here’s how Illinois schools ranked in each discipline:

Business:

• University of Chicago (Booth) - Booth School of Business (1)
• Northwestern University (Kellogg) - Kellogg School of Management (6)
• University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign - College of Business (48)

Education:

• Northwestern University - School of Education and Social Policy (10)
• University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign - College of Education (27)
• University of Illinois--Chicago - College of Education (54)
• Loyola University Chicago - School of Education (95)
• Illinois State University - College of Education (108 - tie)
• Southern Illinois University--Carbondale - College of Education and Human Services (108 - tie)
• DePaul University (168 - tie)
• Northern Illinois University - College of Education (168 - tie)
• Western Illinois University (199)

Engineering:

• University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign - College of Engineering (9)
• Northwestern University (McCormick) - Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (20)
• University of Illinois--Chicago - College of Engineering (65)
• Illinois Institute of Technology (Armour) - Armour College of Engineering (74)

Law:

• University of Chicago - Law School (4)
• Northwestern University (Pritzker) - School of Law (11)
• University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign - University of Illinois College of Law (37)
• Loyola University Chicago - School of Law (74)
• Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago-Kent) - Chicago-Kent College of Law (85)
• DePaul University - College of Law (128)
• Northern Illinois University - College of Law (144)

Medicine:

• University of Chicago (Pritzker) - Pritzker School of Medicine (18)
• Northwestern University (Feinberg) - Feinberg School of Medicine (20)
• University of Illinois - College of Medicine (52)
• Rush University - Medical College (69)

Nursing:

• Rush University - College of Nursing (18)
• University of Illinois--Chicago - College of Nursing (18)
• Loyola University Chicago - Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (55)
• Illinois State University - Mennonite College of Nursing (98)
• Southern Illinois University--Edwardsville - School of Nursing (143)
• St. Xavier University - School of Nursing (146)
• University of St. Francis - College of Nursing and Allied Health (155)
• DePaul University - Department of Nursing (164)
• Lewis University - College of Nursing and Health Professions (183)

Here are the top schools overall in each discipline:

Business:

• Harvard University (1)
• University of Chicago, Booth (1)
• University of Pennsylvania, Wharton (3)
• Stanford University (4)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan (5)

Education:

• University of California, Los Angeles (1)
• Harvard University (2)
• University of Wisconsin, Madison (2)
• Stanford University (4)
• University of Pennsylvania (4)
• New York University, Steinhardt (6)

Engineering:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1)
• Stanford University (2)
• University of California, Berkeley (3)
• California Institute of Technology (4)
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (4)
• Carnegie Mellon University (6)

Law:

• Yale University (1)
• Stanford University (2)
• Harvard University (3)
• University of Chicago (4)
• Columbia University (5)

Medicine:

• Harvard University (1)
• Johns Hopkins University (2)
• New York University (3)
• Stanford University (3)
• University of California-San Francisco (5)
• Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (6)
• University of Pennsylvania (6)

Nursing:

• Johns Hopkins University (1)
• Duke University (2)
• Emory University (3)
• University of Pennsylvania (4)
• University of Washington (5)

Below are the top schools for getting an MBA across the country:

• Harvard University (1)
• University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business (1)
• The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (3)
• MIT Sloan School of Management (4)
• Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (4)
• Stanford University (4)
• Haas School of Business at The University of California-Berkeley (7)
• Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (8)
• Columbia University (9)
• Yale University (9)
• University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (11)
• Duke University (12)
• New York University (12)
• University of Virginia (14)
• University of California-Los Angeles (15)

You can see the full rankings here.

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