The graduate program in Earth sciences at UC Santa Cruz was ranked 13th in a survey of U.S. doctoral programs in the sciences published by U.S. News and World Report.
In a different type of analysis published last year, UC Santa Cruz was ranked 18th in the world for research impact in geosciences. Both recent rankings reflect the growing strength of UCSC's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said department chair Paul Koch.
"The department's reputation has grown steadily for three decades as we built world-class programs in geology, geophysics, environmental science, and planetary science," Koch said. "This climb in the U.S. News and World Report survey highlights our success in mentoring graduate students and launching them into top positions in academia, industry, and public service."
The U.S. News rankings of doctoral programs in the sciences were based entirely on the results of surveys sent to academics in the relevant fields. UCSC ranked among the top 100 programs in four other fields: physics (40th), computer science (53rd), biological sciences (56th), and chemistry (90th). While UCSC has received consistently high rankings in analyses of research impact in astronomy and astrophysics, astronomy programs were not included in the U.S. News rankings. In the magazine's rankings of engineering schools, the Baskin School of Engineering placed 86th overall.
