U.S. News Media Group Announces the 2012 Best Graduate Schools

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News Media Group today released the 2012 Best Graduate Schools rankings online at www.usnews.com/grad. Highlights of the rankings will be published in the Best Graduate Schools 2012 edition book, on sale April 5, 2011. The most comprehensive version of the upcoming Best Graduate Schools, including all the extended rankings and complete data, will be available online only through the all-new U.S. News Graduate School Compass.

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The 2012 Best Graduate Schools includes essential, detailed statistical information on more than 1,200 programs nationwide. In addition to featuring new rankings in five of the largest professional graduate school disciplines (business, law, education, engineering, and medicine), the 2012 rankings also include updated peer-assessment-only rankings for healthcare management, nursing, nursing-anesthesia, nursing-midwifery, physician assistant, public health, rehabilitation counseling, and veterinary medicine.

"After two brutal recessionary years, signs are showing a positive outlook for prospective graduate students and graduates this spring," said Brian Kelly, editor of U.S.News & World Report. "The new and updated Best Graduate Schools rankings guide will serve as an essential resource for anyone considering professional development and continuing education opportunities."

U.S. News has made some changes to the 2012 Best Graduate Schools ranking methodology and presentation. This year, the calculation for employment rates used in the law school rankings was modified.  In response to interest from both readers and institutions in knowing where more law schools sit, the list of numerically ranked institutions was extended from the top 100 to the top three-quarters of the schools. The remaining law schools, the bottom 25 percent, are listed alphabetically as Rank Not Published. In the ranking of medical schools focused on research, the weighting of National Institutes of Health grants awarded and of grants per faculty member was equalized so that each now accounts for 15 percent of the overall score. For more details on these changes, go to www.usnews.com/gradmeth.

In addition to the new rankings data, the 2012 Best Graduate Schools is the first rankings package to be launched on the newly redesigned U.S. News Education site. With a fresh look, the redesign offers increased usability and navigation and more than 20 new Knowledge Centers to help guide users through the college and graduate school decision process. In addition, the new and improved premium product, the U.S. News Graduate School Compass, offers a wealth of graduate school information and comparison tools:

• Expanded Profiles & Advanced Search for All Schools
• Entrance Exam Stats - GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT Scores
• Graduate Salary Data (Law & Business)
• Average Graduate Indebtedness (Law, Business, Medicine)
• New "My Home" - Save Schools, Compare & Take Notes
• All Other School Data also Included (Access good for 1 year)

To learn more about the U.S. News Graduate School Compass or to order a copy of the 2012 Best Graduate Schools book, visit the online U.S. News Store.  For more information about Best Graduate Schools, visit www.usnews.com/grad or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

About the U.S. News Media Group. The U.S. News Media Group is a multi-platform publisher of news analysis, research and rankings which includes the U.S. News & World Report magazines and guidebooks, the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, and the company's websites, www.usnews.com and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money, Education, Politics & Policy, Autos, and Travel, the U.S. News Media Group has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. The U.S. News Media Group's signature franchises include its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its "Best" series of consumer guides that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, health plans, and more.

SOURCE U.S. News Media Group