March 18, 2014
COEHS programs earn U.S. News recognition
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Graduate programs in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s College of Education and Human Services earned national recognition in U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best Graduate Schools” guide, released last week.
The college moved up four spots, to 77th, from last year’s ranking.
“This improvement reflects the commitment of our faculty and staff to student success and academic excellence,” Chancellor Rita Cheng said. “Students in the college, and throughout our university, benefit from the mentoring of recognized leaders in their fields and our robust research enterprise.”
The ranking is several steps up from last year’s placement at 81 and marks several years in a row that SIU has earned a spot among the top 85 graduate education schools.
Keith B. Wilson, dean of the College of Education and Human Services, noted that students frequently review rankings as they choose the university they will attend and SIU is among just four universities in Illinois earning places among the top 100 graduate education programs.
Wilson said the recognition is fitting in that SIU was chartered in 1869 as a teachers college. He also said the college has the highest number of alumni and the largest alumni association membership of any college at SIU, reflecting the quality of the education students receive at the university and their dedication to their alma mater and the College of Education and Human Services.
U.S. News utilizes a number of indicators in determining the scores and rankings for universities, including peer and school superintendent quality assessments, research activity, student selectivity, research funding, doctoral program acceptance rates, faculty resources, student-to-faculty ratio, percentage of faculty with awards, GRE scores and other factors.
U.S. News recently ranked the graduate Rehabilitation Counseling program fourth in the nation, and the new online MBA program at No. 51. In addition, SIU is ranked among the top 100 public national universities. Last November, the university earned a ranking of No. 46 on the inaugural U.S. News “Best National Universities for Veterans” list while the College of Business earned the 23rd spot on that list.