U.S. News names three WMU grad programs best in Michigan

The WMU Cooley Law School was also recognized by U.S. News & World Report for its diversity.

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The latest annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of the top graduate programs in the nation shows Western Michigan University with seven programs among the top 100 in their disciplines and three of those named the best in Michigan.

In the latest round of rankings released March 10, WMU's two Occupational Therapy programs—one based in Kalamazoo and the other in Grand Rapids—and the University's Speech-Language Pathology program captured the highest rankings in Michigan in those disciplines.

Top-100 programs

WMU graduate programs ranked among the nation's top 100 are:

• Occupational Therapy, Kalamazoo—No. 21.
• Speech-Language Pathology—No. 35.
• Occupational Therapy, Grand Rapids—No. 36.
• Rehabilitation Counseling—No. 37.
• Audiology—No. 45.
• Physician Assistant—No. 57.
• Social Work—No. 66.

All seven of WMU's top-100 programs are part of the University's celebrated College of Health and Human Services. Another eight WMU graduate programs also were highly ranked among graduate programs at the nation's more than 650 colleges and universities that confer master's and doctoral degrees. The additional ranked WMU programs are in: clinical psychology (114), earth sciences  (113), English (125), history (125), education (136), psychology (141), art (146) and public affairs (149).

"We have a long history of graduate programs that have established a national reputation, particularly in the health and human service fields," says Dr. Susan Stapleton, dean of the WMU Graduate College. "That, of course, continues, but I'm also extraordinarily pleased at the breadth of academic disciplines represented by our other ranked graduate programs. Together, they reflect our commitment to outstanding graduate education."

Law school noted

Included in U.S. News & World Report's annual graduate education edition are rankings for the nation's top medical and law schools. The magazine unveiled a new listing this year of the most diverse law schools in the nation. The listing, which was based on the total proportion of full- and part-time minority law students, includes the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, which was listed as Michigan's most diverse law school. WMU-Cooley was tied for 36th place nationally with law schools at such other universities as Harvard, Northwestern and Illinois, Urbana Champaign. 

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.