University of Illinois at Chicago

04/07/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/07/2026 07:38

Four UIC programs land in top 25 U.S. News graduate school rankings

Four UIC programs land in top 25 U.S. News graduate school rankings

April 7, 2026

The University of Illinois Chicago continues to demonstrate national strength across advanced degree programs, with several earning placements in the top 25 nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

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UIC programs in the university's nursing and health disciplines led the rankings released on April 7.

The graduate program at UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy, which has campuses in Chicago and Rockford, moved up four places to be ranked 11th (tied) nationally. It remains No. 1 in Illinois.

The UIC College of Nursing's doctor of nursing practice, with various focus areas offered at campuses in Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield and Urbana, rose six spots to 11th in the country. The nursing master's degree tied for 22nd nationally and is the leader in Illinois. Another state-leading program is the School of Public Health's graduate-level program, tied for 22nd overall nationally.

Three specialty programs in the College of Nursing earned top-20 status: the psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner program (tied for sixth), the family nurse practitioner program (tied for ninth) and the midwifery program (tied for 20th).

The College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs tied at 36th nationally for the best overall public affairs school. It also earned top-30 recognition in five specialty areas: urban policy (No. 5), local government management (tied for No. 8), public finance and budgeting (No. 14), nonprofit management (tied for No. 20) and public management and leadership (tied for No. 30).

U.S. News ranked several other specialty programs among the nation's best.

The School of Public Health's health policy management program improved nine spots to 16th, a specialty program in social behavior tied for 21st and the health care management program tied at 28th.

In the College of Applied Health Sciences, the occupational therapy program ranked fifth in the country, while the physical therapy program tied for 33rd.

The education administration program offered by the College of Education is ranked 20th.

The College of Business Administration's information systems MBA program ranked No. 50, and its part-time MBA program rose 35 spots to 63rd (tied) nationally.

UIC School of Law's trial advocacy program tied for 40th, and the legal writing program tied for 48th. The school's part-time law program tied for 43rd in the U.S. 

Several science programs housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences earned top-50 recognition, with biostatistics ranked No. 35, mathematics ranked No. 46 and statistics ranked No. 49 (all tied).

UIC programs that placed in the top 100 according to U.S. News are computer science (tied for 59th); education, which rose nine spots to tie for 64th; engineering (tied for 68th); and fine arts (75th).

U.S. News & World Report evaluates medical schools using a four-tier system rather than individual rankings. Based on overall scores for primary care and research, the College of Medicine at UIC placed in Tier 2 in both categories, ranking it among approximately 50 medical schools nationwide in the top two tiers.

Not all programs are ranked annually. Visit USNews.com for the most recent rankings and methodology details.

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