Health Rankings Methodology

All the health rankings are based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators, and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline. All schools surveyed in a discipline were sent the same number of surveys. Respondents rated the academic quality of programs on a 5-point scale: outstanding (5), strong (4), good (3), adequate (2), or marginal (1). They were instructed to select "don't know" if they did not have enough knowledge to rate a program. Only fully accredited programs in good standing during the survey period are ranked. Those schools with the highest average scores appear. 

[See our Best Health Schools rankings.] 

In the fall of 2010, surveys were conducted for 2011 rankings of schools of public health accredited by the Council on Edu­cation for Public Health (response rate: 61 percent); healthcare management programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (76 percent); master's programs in nursing accredited by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (33 percent); graduate nurse anesthesia programs accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs of the Ameri­can Association of Nurse Anesthetists (49 percent); graduate nurse-midwifery programs accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (59 percent); physician as­sist­ant programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (45 percent); rehabilitation counselor edu­cation programs accredited by the Commission on Standards and Accreditation: Council on Rehabilitation Education (40 percent); and veterinary schools accredited by the American Veterinary Medi­cal Association (48 percent). 

The nursing specialty programs are ranked based solely on input from educators at peer nursing institutions, who nominated up to 10 schools for excellence in each area; schools with the most votes are listed. 

In the fall of 2007, surveys were conducted for the 2008 rankings of Pharm.D. pharmacy programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (56 percent of those surveyed responded); doctoral programs in clinical psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (28 percent); graduate programs in occupational therapy accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Association (53 percent); audiology programs and speech-language-pathology programs accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (57 percent and 42 percent, respectively); physical therapy programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (33 percent); and master of social work programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work Education (56 percent). 

All peer surveys were conducted by the market research firm Synovate. 

The number of schools surveyed: Audiology—102; Clinical Psychology—210; Healthcare Management—75; Nursing—467; Nurse Anesthesia—113; Nurse-Midwifery—38; Occupational Therapy—152; Pharmacy—101; Physical Therapy—199; Physician Assistant—130; Public Health—44; Rehabilitation Counseling—98; Social Work—177; Speech-Language Pathology—247; and Veterinary Medicine—28. 

Rank Not Published means that U.S. News did calculate a numerical ranking for that school/program, but decided for editorial reasons that since the school/program ranked below the U.S. News cutoff that U.S. News would not publish the ranking for that school/program on usnews.com. U.S. News will supply schools/programs marked with Rank Not Published with their numerical rankings, if they submit a request following the procedures listed in the Information for School Officials in the About the Rankings section on usnews.com. 

Schools/programs marked as Rank Not Published are listed alphabetically. Schools in the health ranking that are all based solely on 5.0 peer assessment score are number ranked down to a peer assessment score of greater than or equal to 2.0, Schools with scores beneath 2.0 are listed in alphabetical order as Rank Not Published. Schools in the specialty rankings, which are based solely on nominations from school officials, are numerically ranked in descending order based on the number of nominations they received as long as the school/program receives seven or more nominations in that specialty area. This means that schools ranked at the bottom of each specialty ranking have received seven nominations.