CBEE celebrates increase in U.S. News Grad School rankings

MARCH 30, 2021 8:00 AM | DINAH WINNICK 

Announced today, 2022 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings name several UMBC programs in engineering and public affairs as among the best in the nation.

U.S. News bases these rankings on a combination of quantitative data about over 2,125 programs and expert opinions on program reputations. This feedback is provided through surveys to more than 23,000 deans, program directors, senior faculty, and other leaders. 

UMBC has top-100 programs in public affairs and several engineering fields. Engineering is one of a few areas where rankings also reflect the opinions of professionals who hire or work with new graduates. 

UMBC engineering programs were recognized in five separate categories. For environmental engineering UMBC moved from #58 to #56, and for mechanical engineering UMBC rose from #105 to #101. UMBC’s graduate programs in chemical engineering experienced the most rankings growth, from #84 to #68. 

“I am not at all surprised by the higher rankings we see for our chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering (CBEE) graduate programs,” says Keith J Bowman, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT). “We have expanded a fantastic team by hiring outstanding new faculty and we have been successful in recruiting extraordinary graduate students.”

CBEE Professor Erin Lavik, COEIT’s associate dean for research and faculty development, shares, “Whether it is technologies to enable better, more accessible treatments for diseases or developing solutions to make environmental justice a reality, our CBEE programs prepare students for the future as socially responsible engineers.”