UMD Graduate Programs Earn High Rankings From U.S. News

The University of Maryland ranks among the top institutions in the nation in the 2027 Best Graduate Schools list released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report, with three dozen top-25 placements in overall and specialty categories.

Several colleges and schools at UMD held steady in their impressive rankings, including the A. James Clark School of Engineering at No. 18, the School of Public Health at No. 22 and the College of Education at No. 24, while the School of Public Policy improved to No. 25 in public affairs.  

Retaining its No. 1 spot is the student counseling program, a joint program between the College of Education and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ Department of Psychology. Other highlights include the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences’s Department of Computer Science at No. 12 and the Robert H. Smith School of Business counting six specialties ranked in the top 25.

[UMD Hits All-time High in U.S. News Rankings: No. 16 Among Public Universities]

Including universitywide and undergraduate program ratings in U.S. News’ 2026 “Best Colleges” guide, UMD now has 68 entries in the publication’s top-25 lists.

“These latest graduate school rankings show the University of Maryland’s strength across a wide variety of scholarly domains and specialties, from the physical and social sciences to business and education,” said UMD President Darryll J. Pines. “We’re proud that our graduate programs are providing students with the vital knowledge and inspiration to address the most important challenges facing the world today.”

Each year, U.S. News ranks graduate programs in education, engineering, business (MBA), law, medicine and nursing, along with a rotating selection of specialty schools and programs. The rankings are based on reputational surveys, while business, education and engineering rankings also incorporate quantitative data. The influential lists are widely used by prospective students when considering where to apply.

UMD’s top-25 specialty rankings include:

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

• No. 18 for veterinary medicine

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences

• No. 1 for student counseling (joint program with the College of Education)
• No. 12 for audiology
• No. 17 for speech-language pathology
• No. 19 for clinical psychology

Robert H. Smith School of Business

• No. 8 for information systems
• No. 20 for supply chain
• No. 21 for business analytics
• No. 21 for marketing
• No. 22 for entrepreneurship
• No. 22 for part-time MBA

College of Education

• No. 1 for student counseling (joint program with College of Behavioral and Social Sciences)
• No. 7 for education psychology
• No. 10 for higher education administration
• No. 15 for secondary teacher education
• No. 17 for elementary teacher education
• No. 20 for education policy
• No. 22 for curriculum and instruction

A. James Clark School of Engineering

• No. 13 for aerospace engineering
• No. 15 for electrical engineering
• No. 16 for computer engineering
• No. 20 for mechanical engineering
• No. 22 for material engineering

College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

• No. 12 for computer science
• No. 14 for physics
• No. 16 for computer science: artificial intelligence
• No. 17 for computer science: systems
• No. 19 for computer science: theory
• No. 21 for mathematics

School of Public Health

• No. 22 for health policy and management
• No. 23 for epidemiology

School of Public Policy

• No. 3 for homeland security
• No. 11 for public finance

U.S. News occasionally changes the number of categories it ranks and doesn’t rank all graduate programs annually. Earlier this year, UMD also earned these rankings:

• The Smith School’s online MBA in Marketing program placed No. 6 in the nation, online MBA in general management placed No. 15, online MBA for veterans placed No. 22 and Master’s in Business (non-MBA) placed No. 25.
• The Clark School’s online Master of Engineering program is ranked No. 11 nationally, with specialties in electrical engineering at No. 9, engineering management at No. 12 and engineering programs for veterans at No. 16. 

Other current honors in the most recent rankings produced for the disciplines are:

• The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ criminology and criminal justice program was ranked No. 1 in 2022; its economics and sociology programs were both ranked No. 24 in 2024.
• Library and information studies was ranked No. 3 in 2026.