STATEMENT/BACKGROUNDER

Moeser issues statement about U.S. News and World Report graduate rankings

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser today (April 5) issued this statement about graduate and specialty programs ranked by U.S. News and World Report magazine.

"At Carolina, we are proud to be widely recognized nationally for excellence in a broad and impressive array of graduate and professional education degree programs. The new assessments by U.S. News and World Report of select professional and science programs are just one more indication of the national strength of these Carolina programs.

"While rankings are not our priority and certainly have their well-documented limitations, these most recent lists of some graduate and professional programs do reflect the views of deans, senior faculty, program directors and practicing professionals.

"Carolina’s excellence will continue to be defined by how well we educate students, conduct successful scientific discovery and serve the needs of the people of North Carolina and beyond. This is a university that makes a powerful difference in the lives of people."

Here is a summary of UNC graduate programs and specialty areas listed 25^th or higher by the magazine:

Overall 17^th (for master of business administration degree programs)

Specialty areas

Executive MBA 10^th

Accounting 10^th

Research overall 22^nd (tie)

Primary Care overall 6^th

Specialty areas

Family Medicine 4^th

Rural Medicine 3^rd

Women’s Health 11^th

AIDS 16^th (tie)

Internal Medicine 18^th (tie)

Pediatrics 19^th (tie)

School of Education

Overall 24^th (tie)

Specialty area

Elementary Education 18^th (tie)

School of Public Health (no new overall public health rankings, but the following from a ranking of engineering schools)

Specialty area

Environmental/Environmental Health 10^th

Overall 14^th (tie)

Specialty areas

Analytic 1^st

Inorganic 9^th

Organic 18^th

Overall 17^th (tie)

Specialty area

Systems 13^th

Graduate rankings will appear in the April 15 issue of the U.S. News and World Report magazine, scheduled to hit newsstands Monday (April 8). The 2003 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s "Best Graduate Schools" guidebook also will go on sale Monday. Information also will be available today at www.usnews.com. U.S. News first ranked graduate programs in 1987 and has done so annually since 1990. Business, education, engineering, law and medicine are ranked annually. Other disciplines and specialties are ranked periodically.

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U.S. News and World Report contact: Richard Folkers at (202) 955-2219

News Services contacts: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593, or Deb Saine, 962-8415