photo by: Nick Krug

A bus whirs by as University of Kansas students wait along Jayhawk Boulevard on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.

Nine graduate programs at the University of Kansas are among the top 10 of public universities nationwide, according to the 2019 edition of the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” rankings.

The rankings, released earlier this week, also include 46 KU graduate programs ranked in the top 50, eclipsing last year’s total of 42 KU graduate programs. KU’s special education program ranked No. 1 among public universities for the second year in a row, and KU’s city management and urban policy program ranked No. 1 among all universities, a spot KU has maintained since 1998.

KU programs that saw an improved ranking this year among public universities include nursing (32, up from 45 last year), nursing practice (31, up from 40 last year), civil engineering (36, up from 41 last year) and mechanical engineering (47, up from 59 last year).

Newly ranked KU programs to appear on this year’s list include the business MBA program, tied for 39 among public universities; biomedical/bioengineering, tied for 48 among public universities; public policy analysis, tied for 21 among public universities; and statistics, tied for 59 among public universities.

“Rankings are one way to determine how we are performing relative to our peer institutions, and these U.S. News rankings highlight successes across our university,” Chancellor Douglas Girod said in a news release. “We celebrate these successes and remain focused on our broader mission and goals.”