In the 2026 edition of Best Graduate Schools, U.S. News and World Report ranked 24 University of Delaware graduate programs among the best in the nation, with 13 programs ranked among the top 50. 

“Once again, UD’s graduate programs are recognized for their high standard of excellence,” UD President Dennis Assanis said. “The impressive talents of our outstanding faculty and high-caliber students continue to fuel positive momentum year after year for our graduates and their next-step careers. I am so proud of our University’s collaborative focus on academic rigor, compelling programming and dedicated support of graduate education.” 

“It is great to know that our graduate programs have moved up in the rankings again,” said Louis Rossi, dean of UD’s Graduate College and vice provost for graduate and professional education. “More important than any program's improvement is that if you look at the entire set of all ranked programs at UD, the whole collection has steadily risen over the years. These rankings reflect the hard work of faculty, staff and administration to create and support outstanding graduate programs and experiences."

Two of UD’s programs remained in the elite top 10, and over half of the programs ranked this year are in the top 50.

Physical therapy regained its #1 ranking, and chemical engineering is ranked #8. Joining them in the top 50 are: 

• Nonprofit Management, 16

• Public Management and Leadership, 18

• Public Finance and Budgeting, 21

• Public Affairs Schools, 27 (up from 34)

• Curriculum and Instruction, 30 (UD newly ranked in 2026)

• Education Schools, 31 (up from 34)

• Speech-Language Pathology, 32

• Materials Engineering, 35 (up from 40)

• Engineering Schools, 37 (up from 38)

• Mechanical Engineering, 42 (up from 50)

• Clinical Psychology, 45

Also ranked this year are:

• Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering, 51

• Civil Engineering, 58

• Computer Engineering, 58

• Electrical/Electronic/Communications Engineering, 61

• Psychology, 62 (up from 68)

• Computer Science, 71

• English, 72 (up from 82)

• History, 75

• Sociology, 76 (up from 79)

• Political Science, 87

• Economics, 97

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 is available on the Institutional Research and Effectiveness Rankings webpage. Please note that the programs and specialties used by U.S. News might vary slightly from the names of degree programs used by UD.

Graduate education at UD

UD currently offers 64 doctoral and 143 master’s degree programs. Of these programs, 17 are dual degrees, 14 are interdisciplinary and 20 are online. Other options include an avenue to complete a traditional four-year bachelor’s program plus a master’s program in one additional year, known as a 4+1 degree (26 are currently available), 35 certificate programs across seven colleges and more than 80 research centers and institutes. UD is one of the top 100 institutions for federal obligations in science and engineering and interdisciplinary initiatives in energy science and policy, the environment and human health. Learn more at grad.udel.edu.