UNC-Chapel Hill graduate programs ranked among best in nation

Numerous University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate programs received high rankings — 19 were among the top 10 in the nation in their respective categories — as part of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” list.

For the fifth consecutive rankings period, Gillings School of Global Public Health was ranked second out of 195 schools and programs of public health in the United States, also maintaining its position as the top public school of public health. The Gillings School has been ranked among the top schools and programs of public health by U.S. News since the magazine first ranked public health schools in 1987.

Additionally, the School of Law ranked eighth out of public law schools and has jumped 22 spots since 2019 to land in the top 25 law schools for the second year in a row.

Altogether, 30 programs increased their rankings, including numerous programs in the School of Law, School of Education, College of Arts & Sciences, School of Nursing and Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Additional UNC-Chapel Hill rankings for 2023 follow.

Note that not all graduate programs are ranked by U.S. News & World Report every year. For a complete list of rankings for UNC-Chapel Hill, visit the U.S. News & World Report website.

Gillings School of Global Public Health

• Public Health programs, first public, second overall
• Biostatistics, fifth
• Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering, tied for 26th

School of Medicine

• Overall
  • Primary Care, fifth
  • Research, tied for 25th
• Specialty Areas
  • Family Medicine, third
  • Internal Medicine, 25th
  • Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering (this is a joint department with N.C. State University), tied for 38th
  • Internal Medicine, 25th
• Additional Rankings
  • Percent of 2013-2015 graduates practicing direct patient care in rural areas, 50^th
  • Percent of 2013-2015 graduates practicing in primary care specialties, 75th
  • Percent of 2013-2015 graduates practicing direct patient care in health professional shortage areas, 79th

UNC School of Nursing

• Overall
  • Nursing Schools, Master’s Programs, tied for eighth
  • Nursing Schools – DNP Programs, 14th
• Specialty Areas
  • Nursing Master’s, Administration/Management – Master’s, tied for sixth
  • Nursing Master’s, Nurse Practitioner: Adult Gerontology Primary Care – Master’s, tied for sixth
  • Nursing Master’s, Nurse Practitioner: Family – Master’s, fourth
  • Nursing Master’s, Nurse Practitioner: Psychiatric/Mental Health – Master’s, third
  • Nursing DNP, Administration/Management – DNP, 3rd
  • Nursing DNP, Nurse Practitioner: Family – DNP, tied for 6th
  • Nursing DNP, Nurse Practitioner: Psychiatric/Mental Health – DNP, fourth
    
  • Nursing DNP, Leadership – fourth

College of Arts & Sciences

• Public Affairs
  • Overall, tied for 20th

As part of the public affairs category, U.S. News ranked Carolina programs and specialty areas based in the School of Government and the College of Arts & Sciences’ department of public policy.

College of Arts & Sciences

• Environmental Policy and Management, tied for 14th
• Public Policy Analysis, 23rd

School of Government

• Local Government Management, second
• Public Management and Leadership, 12th
• Public Finance and Budgeting, tied for 26th

• Economics
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Doctoral Programs – Economics, tied for 30th
• Biology
  • Overall, tied for 25th
  • Cell biology, tied for 18th
  • Ecology, tied for 12th (This ranking is shared with the College’s Ecology, Environment and Energy Program.)
• Chemistry
  • Overall, tied for 17th
  • Analytical, 2nd
  • Inorganic, 14th
  • Organic, 17th
  • Physical, 21st
• Computer Science
  • Tied for 26th
• Geology
  • Tied for 51st (Geological sciences is now part of the College’s earth, marine and environmental sciences department.)
• Mathematics
  • Tied for 29th
• Physics
  • Tied for 38th
• Psychology
  • Tied for 12th
• Statistics
  • Tied for 11th
• Additional rankings
  • Material engineering, 49^th (This program is part of the College’s department of applied physical sciences.)

UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

• Overall, 19th (tied)
• Specialty Areas
  • Accounting, tied for 9th
  • Real Estate, 10th
  • Marketing, tied for 29th
  • Executive MBA, 11th
  • General Management, 20th
  • Finance, tied for 27th
  • Production, Operations tied for 21st
  • Business Analytics, tied for 31st

UNC School of Social Work

• Overall, tied for seventh

UNC School of Law

• Overall, 23rd (tied)
• Specialty Areas
  • Legal Writing, tied for 10th
  • Contracts/Commercial Law, tied for 20th
  • Criminal Law, tied for 18th
  • Constitutional Law, tied for 21st
  • Tax Law, tied for 20th
  • Business/Corporate Law, tied for 23rd
  • Environmental Law, tied for 41st
  • Health Care Law, tied for 23rd
  • Clinical Training, tied for 26th
  • Intellectual Property Law, tied for 55th
  • International Law, tied for 62nd
  • Dispute Resolution, tied for 56th
  • Trial Advocacy, tied for 89th

UNC School of Education

• Overall, tied for 23rd
• Specialty Areas
  • Secondary Teacher Education, 16th
  • Education Policy, 17th
  • Educational Administration, tied for 20th
  • Curriculum and Instruction, tied for 22nd
  • Special Education, 19th

Engineering

• Overall, 64th

The methodology used to compile rankings for business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing programs consists of statistical surveys from over 2,150 programs and reputation surveys from over 23,200 professionals and academics, conducted in fall 2021 and early 2022.

Programs in the sciences, social sciences, humanities and health were based solely on ratings from academic experts.