Duke University's School of Medicine, School of Law and Fuqua School of Business all rank among the top dozen institutions in their disciplines, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of the best graduate and professional schools in the country.
The medical school tied for eighth for research and tied for 34th in primary care. The law school tied for 10th and the business school tied for 12th. The Sanford Institute of Public Policy tied for 10th for public affairs.
In rankings of doctoral programs, Duke tied for 12th for doctoral programs in the sciences; ranked fifth in ecology and evolutionary biology; tied for 21st in mathematics; tied for 25th in computer science; tied for 29th in physics and tied for 43rd for chemistry. The Pratt School of Engineering tied for 30th, with its biomedical engineering program ranked fifth in the nation.
In doctoral programs in the social sciences and humanities, Duke's political science department tied for eighth, English tied for 12th, sociology tied for 14th, history tied for 15th, economics tied for 21st and psychology tied for 28th.
Provost Peter Lange, the university's top academic officer, said while Duke is pleased that the U.S. News & World Report rankings "recognize the high quality of the programs we offer," he added that students "should look at many more variables before choosing a graduate or professional program."
Among medical specialties, Duke was acknowledged in geriatrics (third), internal medicine (fifth), women's health (seventh), AIDS (eighth) and family medicine (ninth).
Under health disciplines, Duke was tied for 11th in clinical psychology, tied for 15th in nursing and tied for 20th in healthcare management. Under nursing specialties, Duke's physician assistant program was ranked second, while the physical therapy and gerontological/geriatric programs were each tied for 10th in their respective categories.
Within the law school, Duke was tied for fourth for intellectual property law and eighth in environmental law. It was also included in a list of "the most diverse schools" of law.
Duke's executive MBA program ranked fourth in the country in its category. Fuqua also was cited for its programs in marketing (third), international business (tied for fourth), nonprofit (tied for seventh) and management (eighth).
Under public affairs specialties, the Sanford Institute ranked second in environmental policy and management, fifth in public policy analysis and tied for ninth in health policy and management.
According to U.S. News, the magazine's methodology is generally based on a weighted average of indicators that include a "quality assessment" and statistical analyses of factors, such as student selectivity, faculty resources, research activity and placement success. U.S. News surveyed deans, department heads or other groups of people from programs in each cohort.