In the 2023 edition of Best Graduate Schools, U.S. News and World Report has ranked 23 University of Delaware graduate programs among the 100 best in the nation, including 10 in the top 50.

“Excellence in graduate education is a key priority for UD, so it is gratifying to see so many of our programs recognized at the national level again this year,” said President Dennis Assanis. “These programs play a critical role to the advancement of knowledge, discovery, innovation and creative expression, all of which benefit our entire society. UD’s strengths in these fields is a testament to the hard work of our dedicated faculty, staff and students in the Graduate College and throughout the University.”

Retaining its position in the top 10 is UD’s chemical engineering graduate program at No. 8 in the nation for the fourth consecutive year. UD was named a Best Engineering Graduate School, while seven more engineering specialties appeared in the rankings as well.

UD was also named a Best Graduate School for Public Affairs, Best Graduate School for Education, Best Graduate School for Nursing (Doctor of Nursing Practice), and Best Graduate School for Business. In addition, several individual offerings in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration are prominently listed in the top 40.

This year’s report includes rankings of graduate programs in six major disciplines—business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing—and specialty programs in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, health and other disciplines.

“It's fantastic to see many of our graduate programs steadily advance in the rankings, including some making major strides,” said Louis Rossi, dean of UD’s Graduate College and vice provost for graduate and professional education. “UD has been strategically investing in our faculty, our facilities and program innovation, and those efforts are reflected in lagging indicators like the U.S. News and World Report rankings.”

Following are the UD graduate programs, along with the respective rankings, listed in the 2023 edition of Best Graduate Schools:

• Chemical engineering, 8
• Nonprofit management, 22 (up from 32)
• Public finance and budgeting, 24
• Public affairs schools, 29 (up from 34)
• Public management and leadership, 32
• Education schools, 39
• Materials engineering, 44
• Biomedical engineering, 45 (up from 49)
• Engineering schools, 45 (up from 47)
• Mechanical engineering, 50
• Electrical engineering, 53
• Civil engineering, 54 (up from 57)
• Chemistry, 55 (up from 59)
• Earth sciences, 62 (up from 78)
• Physics, 68 (up from 71)
• Psychology, 68
• Computer engineering, 69
• Nursing schools: Doctor of nursing practice, 72 (newly ranked)
• Mathematics, 79
• Computer science, 82
• Economics, 88
• Biological sciences, 100 (up from 140)
• Business schools, 100 (up from 110)

The preceding list only includes subject areas evaluated in this year's edition; other UD graduate programs have been ranked in previous years. The full listing of UD graduate programs ranked by U.S. News and World Report, including UD’s No. 1 program in physical therapy, is available on the Institutional Research and Effectiveness Rankings webpage. Please note that the degree categories used by U.S. News might vary slightly from the names of degree programs used by UD.

The 2023 Best Graduate Schools rankings are based on statistical surveys of more than 2,150 programs and from reputation surveys distributed to more than 23,200 academics and professionals, conducted in fall 2021 and early 2022. Specialty rankings, beyond the U.S. News six major disciplines, are based solely on academic experts’ ratings.