![\"Interdisciplinary](\"\/cise\/files\/2016\/03\/h_butoday_15-8744-BLACKATBU-032.jpg\")
The College of Engineering has earned its highest-ever ranking from US News & World Report, <\/em>placing 35th <\/a>among its peer American schools in the magazine\u2019s latest rankings. It\u2019s a two-slot advance from last year and a long jump from a decade ago, when the school placed 52nd, says Kenneth Lutchen, dean of ENG.<\/p>\n Additionally, ENG\u2019s biomedical engineering instruction ranked ninth among such programs nationally. The ratings of 194 engineering schools considered peer assessments, student selectivity, student-faculty ratios, the number of doctoral degrees granted, and research funding, among other factors.<\/p>\n Lutchen attributes his school\u2019s success to several strengths, starting with a commitment to interdisciplinary research across both the college and the University, \u201crecruiting complementary faculty in areas such as photonics, information and cyber-physical systems, the intersection of engineering and biology, advanced materials, and nanotechnology.\u201d That approach, he says, has garnered \u201ctremendous extramural funding success among our faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n Second, in recent years, ENG boosted research and educational partnerships with industry, using assessments of the school\u2019s programs by these partners to improve them. Meanwhile, Lutchen says, the ENG faculty has matched prowess at securing funding with \u201cscholarship in their field, and in how that scholarship eventually impacts societal challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the past decade, ENG\u2019s rankings have marked \u201cthe largest single improvement of any engineering school in the country\u201d among those that made the top 52 in 2006, he notes. Every one of its degree programs now scores in the top 20 in its discipline among private universities, he says, adding that that has real-world effects, helping \u201cattract ever-higher quality in our faculty and our PhD students.\u201d \u201cThe needs of today\u2019s business students are rapidly changing,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cThrough curriculum enhancements, we continue to provide a highly relevant degree program, which is attracting exceptional students and resulting in strong career advancements\u2014both crucial factors in this ranking.\u201d The US News <\/em>nod follows improved rankings as well for the school from The Economist <\/em>magazine, the Financial Times, <\/em>and Bloomberg Businessweek<\/em>, according to the dean. \u201cAlthough rankings are not perfect, they do help inform prospective student choices,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The School of Law clocked in at number 20<\/a> in the US News <\/em>rankings, a 6-slot jump from last year and a tie with the University of Iowa. The school\u2019s health law program<\/a> was ranked second best of its kind, up from fifth place last year. Health law involves legal issues around public health and regulation of health care, medical research, food, and pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n While pleased with the ranking, Maureen O\u2019Rourke, dean of LAW, says that \u201cit is more important to stress that our commitment to building an excellent faculty and preparing our students to be leaders in the law is the same, no matter what our rank is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOther BU schools also fared well in the current US News <\/em>rankings. The Questrom School of Business full-time MBA program ranked 41st<\/a>, up from 43rd. Kenneth Freeman, the school\u2019s Allen Questrom Professor and Dean, attributes the showing to a curriculum evolving with the business world.<\/p>\n