PhD Program Rankings

Among the top tier universities there are several that emerge with top ten rankings for several of their graduate degree programs.  An academic department takes a very different approach to master’s degree and especially to PhD programs than to undergraduate teaching duties.  A PhD program is usually dedicated to producing top researchers, scholars and teachers in their academic field of choice.  Students in these programs must produce original research that passes faculty muster and must contribute creative thinking to the learning process.  Many PhD students also become proficient in the classroom, working as teaching assistants at the undergraduate level.

Our list of the top PhD program rankings has taken into account the university ratings published yearly by US News and World Report, which produces the most widely acclaimed rating survey for American colleges and universities.  We have also recognized the rankings generated by Newsweek and by Forbes although those studies are far more limited in the depth of research and the types of graduate programs that are reviewed.  Here are the top universities with respected doctoral programs in many of the academic departments.

1. Stanford University has become a premier institution that ranks with any Ivy League school or Eastern university in the quality and diversity of its graduate programs.  The Computer Science Department has interdisciplinary PhD programs in Computer Systems Engineering, Symbolic Systems, and Mathematical & Computational Sciences. It has one of the top three PhD in Education programs in the nation.
2. Harvard University has long been the standard by which other graduate programs are judged.  If you look beyond the medical and law schools, you’ll find a top-flight School of Public Health and a PhD in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government that is respected throughout the country.
3. University of California/Berkeley is the flagship of the finest public university system in the country.  It has 105 programs within its graduate division.  The PhD in Bioengineering is offered in conjunction with the UC San Francisco Medical School; for aspiring epidemiologists there is both a PhD in Demography and a PhD in Infectious Diseases & Immunity to choose from.
4. University of Pennsylvania is an Ivy League school probably best known for its business and medical schools, which includes an excellent graduate nursing program.  The PhD in Computer and Information Science matches any IT doctorate program in the Northeast; the PhD in Psychology is offered by the oldest Department of Psychology in the country.
5. Carnegie Mellon University has a diverse selection of graduate programs, reflecting a proactive approach to upper level education from a school so small.  The PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering has three international schools affiliated with the program, offering a multi-continent course of study.  There is an impressive range of PhD options in the School of Computer Science including Machine Learning/Neural Basis of Cognition; Robotics; and Computer-Human Interaction.
6. Yale University is known and respected for its fine School of Divinity, but the PhD in Religion is offered elsewhere in the School of Arts and Sciences.  The same school offers a PhD in Genetics, one in Molecular Biophysics and one in Immunobiology for students interested in biotech.  The School of Engineering and Applied Science has doctoral programs in several interesting mixes of chemistry, physic s and engineering.
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of those schools where PhD students are a much more common sight than on most campuses.  Despite its technology orientation the business school is one of the best in the country, offering a PhD program that delves into areas of study such as Economic Sociology, Systems Dynamics and Organization Studies.
8. Northwestern University is the campus to choose if you are interested in multimedia; one of the graduate options in the School of Communications is a PhD in Technology and Social Behavior.   A related option is the PhD in Media, Technology and Society.  Other top notch options can be found in the School of Education, where the PhD in Education and Social Policy is offered as a choice for students who want to take a leadership role in shaping public education.
9. University of Michigan has managed to maintain its top status as a doctoral university despite the state’s perennial budget woes.  The Rackham Graduate School at Ann Arbor offers a raft of interdisciplinary programs including a PhD in Economics/MA in Statistics; a PhD in Education with an MBA; and a PhD in Sociology/MA in Statistics.
10. New York University has assembled such a range of academic options during the course of its history that it is difficult to ignore in an assessment of top graduate programs.  It has a top medical school, law school and business school.  The Institute of Fine Arts offers a PhD program that offers a wide range of cultural art options to specialize in.   You can obtain a PhD in Politics or a PhD in Physics in the same collection of buildings in Manhattan.