April 1, 2005
Purdue graduate engineering programs ranked among nation's best
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's College of Engineering graduate program is ranked 10th overall and several of its schools are among the top 10 in a U.S. News and World Report survey released today (Friday, April 1).
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In a separate survey, employers ranked the College of Engineering eighth nationally, tied with Cornell University, University of Michigan and the University of Texas-Austin in this category.
"Our college has done very well in many aspects of graduate education, and the rankings among our peer institutions speak to our successful efforts to increase research output and improve our reputation," said Linda Katehi, John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering. "Our investments in new faculty hires and the improvement of our research and educational infrastructure will pay off in many ways in the near future. Our goal is to be ranked among the top four institutions."
Purdue's College of Engineering included 324 faculty in 2004 and is expected to grow to 395 over the next several years. Katehi said there are plans to invest $10 million in new and ongoing research. New facilities include the nearly 123,000-square-foot Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering, which will house its recently established Department of Engineering Education, the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, School of Materials Engineering, Engineering Projects in Community Service and a number of student-focused program offices.
Individual Purdue program specialties rankings are:
• Nuclear engineering, fourth;• Industrial engineering, fourth;
• Civil engineering, fifth;
• Aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering, sixth;
• Mechanical engineering, ninth;
• Computer engineering, ninth;
• Electrical engineering, 10th;
• Chemical engineering, 12th;
• Materials engineering, 15th;
• Biomedical engineering, 32nd.
"Seven of our 10 ranked schools have been in the top 10, and several of them have improved their rankings as compared to previous years," Katehi said. "Students graduating from Purdue's comprehensive engineering programs leave the university with the skills to be among the best engineers and leaders in the nation."
Purdue's engineering program is among the largest in the United States and includes 14 academic programs: aeronautics and astronautics, agricultural and biological, biomedical, chemical, civil, construction engineering and management, electrical and computer, engineering education, first-year engineering, industrial, interdisciplinary, materials, mechanical, and nuclear. More than 6,400 undergraduate students and nearly 2,500 graduate students are enrolled in Purdue engineering programs.
To determine overall ranking, the magazine used data provided by the institutions. The information was used to compare factors such as standardized test scores, applicant acceptance rates, the ratio of doctoral students to faculty, research expenditures and research spending per faculty member.
U.S.News & World Report's complete rankings in "America's Best Graduate Schools" will be available on newsstands Monday (April 5). U.S. News has published graduates school rankings annually since 1987.
Writer: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 494-4192, csequin@purdue.edu
Sources: Linda Katehi, (765) 494-5346, katehi@purdue.edu
Jackie Baumgardt, (765) 494-5346
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION:
Purdue chemical engineering graduate student Tom Huang assembles a new microfluidic chip by placing a thin layer of a flexible polymer on a glass microscope slide. The new method of producing these chips saves time and money and uses materials easily acquired by any research laboratory. Purdue's College of Engineering ranked 10th nationally in the U.S.News and World Report rankings of graduate programs. (Purdue Agricultural Communications file photo/Tom Campbell)
A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2005/ranking05-engr.jpg
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