The Vanderbilt University Peabody College of Education and Human Development is the top-ranked Ph.D. education program in U.S. News's 2012 rankings of Best Education Schools. The Nashville, Tenn. school has garnered the top spot in the education rankings for three consecutive years after supplanting the Stanford University School of Education in the 2010 rankings. Five years ago, Vanderbilt was ranked fifth, but has gradually managed to creep up to the top spot.
In recent months, public officials have called upon education programs to shoulder one of the nation's pressing burdens—educating a vast, and capable, teacher workforce. Last September, President Obama called for 10,000 more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) teachers to be hired during the next two years and for 100,000 more in the next decade. The need arose in light of the fact that American students rank 21st and 25th, respectively, in science and math worldwide. Loan forgiveness and repayment assistance programs have been put in place to incentivize more people to take the STEM route by helping teachers, who tend to make relatively meager salaries, subsidize the cost of pricey college and graduate degrees at the nation's top education programs.
[Read about the upcoming teacher-preparation program rankings.]
Special education teachers are also in demand and are eligible for loan forgiveness programs akin to the ones in place for STEM teachers. U.S. News asked education school deans to rank the nation's top special education programs, where Vanderbilt placed first. The University of Kansas School of Education, University of Oregon College of Education, University of Florida College of Education, and the University of Texas—Austin College of Education round out the top five in the category.
Deans also ranked nine other specialties including education policy, counseling, and elementary education, where Stanford, the University of Maryland—College Park, and the Michigan State University College of Education placed first, respectively.
[See the complete education specialty rankings.]
UT-Austin also has the distinction of making the biggest improvement among top-10 schools, climbing from a 10th-place tie last year to a tie for second with the Harvard University Graduate School of Education this year. Several lower-ranked schools made significant jumps as well. Among the top 50, the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, moving from 27th to 14th, and the University of Hawaii—Manoa College of Education, jumping from a 50th-place tie last year to 35th, made the biggest gains.
Lower on the list, a handful of schools made even bigger gains this year, including the University of California—Santa Cruz, which leapt 43 spots to 58th and the North Carolina State University—Raleigh College of Education, which moved up 47 spots to a 66th-place tie.
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