April 2, 2001

U.S. News & World Report Friday ranked the University's programs in the critically important fields of medicine, education, law "The state's investment in its flagship public university is paying dividends in areas that are of great significance to our state," said President Philip E. Austin. "Connecticut's residents have enormous interest in our health care, education and legal systems, all of which contribute heavily to the quality of life for us and our children and the strength of our economy."

The School of Medicine's primary care program made the national listing for the first time, ranking 47th. The medical school curriculum at the Health Center in Farmington was cited as a national model in 1998 by the Association of American Medical Colleges, which called it "responsive and innovative."

U.S. News also again ranked UConn's community health programs as 10th in the nation.

The U.S. News 2002 rankings, which were released to the media on Friday and hit the newsstands on Monday, come just a week after the UConn School of Dental Medicine ranked as the number one dental school in the country, based on students' test scores on part II of the National Board Dental Examinations.

"We are very excited to be included in the rankings. Although they are not the only measure of our performance, they do demonstrate that our reputation is noted both by academics and by directors of residency programs, who just last week on match day made it clear that our students are in demand," said Peter Deckers, executive vice president for health affairs.

"The rankings of both the medical and the dental schools reflect the quality of the programs at the UConn Health Center and the superior training that Connecticut's only public medical and dental programs offer to students who often serve Connecticut for their entire career. Our state has had a long tradition of providing its population with outstanding medical and dental care; I'm pleased to see that this tradition continues."

The rankings again put the Neag School of Education at 47 on the national list.

"We are delighted to once again be ranked among the nation's top 50 schools of education. We expect that all the program changes we've recently made and our faculty additions will be reflected in next year's rankings," said Richard Schwab, dean of education.

Also ranked among the top law schools in the nation was the School of Law, which ranked 44th. It's the only public law school in New England and one of only five in the region ranked in the top tier.

"By their nature, rankings don't tell the entire story of all the exciting things happening at the School of Law," says Dean Nell Jessup Newton. "However, we're happy to be recognized as one of the top public law schools in the country and are pleased to be in such good company."

Other UConn programs included in the U.S. News rankings: Audiology: ranked 25th; Speech-Language Pathology: ranked 21st; and Psychology: ranked 73rd.

Karen Grava