Rankings of doctoral programs in the doctoral Ph.D. sciences are based solely on the results of surveys sent to academics in biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, mathematics, physics, and statistics during fall 2009.
[See our Best Science Schools rankings.]
The individuals rated the quality of the program at each institution from "marginal" (1) to "outstanding" (5). Individuals who were unfamiliar with a particular school's programs were asked to select "don't know." The schools with the highest average scores among those who rated them were sorted in descending order and appear here. All doctoral surveys were conducted by Synovate.
The universe of schools surveyed in biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, mathematics, and physics consisted of schools that awarded at least five doctoral degrees for the years from 2003 through 2008, according to the National Science Foundation report "Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards."
The American Statistical Association provided U.S. News with eligible programs for statistics. In biological sciences, graduate programs may be offered in a university's medical school or its college of arts and sciences. In statistics, graduate programs may be offered through a biostatistics or statistics department.
Questionnaires were sent to the department heads and directors of graduate studies at each program in each discipline.
Response rates for the doctoral Ph.D. sciences were as follows: for biological sciences, 15 percent; chemistry, 25 percent; computer science, 46 percent; earth sciences, 29 percent; mathematics, 34 percent; physics, 31 percent; and statistics, 67 percent.
The number of schools surveyed were Biological Sciences—256; Chemistry—197; Computer Science—155; Earth Sciences—112; Mathematics—164; Physics—169; and Statistics—75.
In the Ph.D. sciences rankings, programs with an average peer assessment score of equal to or greater than 2.0 are numerically ranked. All those with average peer assessment scores of less than 2.0 are listed in alphabetical order as RNP, or Rank Not Published by U.S. News.
Specialty rankings in the Ph.D. sciences are based solely on nominations by department heads and directors of graduate studies at peer schools. These respondents ranked up to 10 programs in each area. Those with the most votes appear here.
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.
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