`U.S. News' posts latest grad school rankings

The annual U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings boosted two more Penn schools into the top 10, but the Wharton School posted its second consecutive drop. Wharton fell to fourth place among the nation's business schools, trailing Harvard, Stanford and Northwestern universities. The Medical School also dropped by one, while the School of Education, the Law School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science all rose in the rankings. The national magazine -- which compares hundreds of schools across the country -- draws on criteria including academic reputations, selectivity, job placement success, faculty resources and research. The result is a score between zero and 100, and the differences between top schools can be as small as one tenth of a point. "The top bunch of schools are very close, so it's hard to distinguish among the top schools," Wharton Dean Patrick Harker said. "We're all good, but good in different ways." Wharton's drop this year was the second consecutive one-place decline for the school, which held second place two years ago. Wharton's Finance program held first place, while Accounting, Entrepreneurship and Marketing held second-place slots. The International Business and Executive MBA programs were each ranked third. But Penn administrators noted that these numbers are often somewhat artificial. "Rankings are interesting, but it's hard to boil down the school to one number," Harker said. "We're proud to be in the top bunch, but it doesn't really signify what the school is." The Medical School's decline to fourth -- after two years at third -- placed it after Harvard, Johns Hopkins University and Duke University. Washington University shares fourth place with Penn. Though Penn was 32nd in Primary Care education, it held top 10 slots in four of its eight specialties. The Graduate School of Education -- which jumped this year to the No. 8 spot from 11th last year -- benefited from a reconfiguration of the methodology, GSE Dean Susan Fuhrman said. "We have improved in a number of measures, like we are increasingly becoming more selective and getting more research grants," Fuhrman said. "But they have changed the weightings and modified some of the indicators. They have made some changes that make it fairer for a small school like ours and make it apples against apples." Like the GSE, the Law School entered the top 10 this year. It jumped from the 12th spot last year to share 10th place with Duke, while Yale University, Stanford and Harvard continue to hold the top slots. University President Judith Rodin said that the rankings, despite several drops, were good recognition of the University, "It is gratifying that the editors of U.S. News & World Report confirm what we at Penn already know -- our graduate and professional schools are among the nation's finest," Rodin said in an e-mail statement. Penn's Engineering graduate school also continued a trend of increase, to No. 30 from No. 33 last year and No. 35 the year before. Penn's Fels Center of Government placed in the 35th spot in the Public Affairs section. In the School of Arts and Sciences, the Economics Department was No. 9, English was No. 10, Sociology was ranked No. 11, History was No. 13 and the Psychology Department held the No. 15 spot. Administrators noted that although these rankings are important in some ways, they should not be taken too seriously. "I think it is true that students, prospective students, and prospective faculty pay some attention [to the rankings]," Fuhrman said. "So while many of us would choose to be judged by other measures -- such as the impact of our research -- they can't be ignored."