The University of Utah’s College of Engineering continues to rise as one of the nation’s most respected engineering institutions, according to U.S. News & World Report, whose rankings of graduate schools was released March 12. According to the 2020 rankings, the U College of Engineering’s overall graduate program jumped three spots to No. 55.
Meanwhile, chemical engineering’s graduate program rose five spots to 56th, civil engineering climbed two spots to 65th, mechanical engineering moved up one spot to 65th, and materials science and engineering had the largest gain with seven spots to 57th.
The rankings are based on a series of scores from surveys with deans, corporate recruiters, employers and company contacts, as well as GRE test scores from master’s and doctoral students, acceptance rates, faculty-to-student ratios, research expenditures, doctoral degrees awarded and more.
The college also has ranked high in other areas. According to the latest ASEE Databook, the College of Engineering is ranked 29th in the country in total tenure-track faculty, 36th in research expenditures, and 40th in doctoral degrees awarded.
The U’s College of Engineering has experienced tremendous growth in the last two decades with research expenditures rising 280 percent since 2002 (with $95 million in engineering-related expenditures in 2018) and the number of Ph.D. graduates rising 193 percent. Tenure track faculty has also grown with 192 faculty members in 2018, a 73-percent increase since 2002.