photo by: Richard Gwin

Students move along Jayhawk Boulevard on the KU campus between classes on Wednesday January 27, 2016.

Eleven graduate programs at the University of Kansas are among the top 10 of public universities nationwide, according to the 2020 edition of the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” rankings.

The university on Tuesday announced the rankings, which also include 48 KU graduate programs ranked in the top 50. Last year 46 KU graduate programs made it into the top 50 and nine programs made the top 10.

KU’s special education program retained its No. 1 ranking among public universities for the third year in a row, while KU’s local government management program also retained its No. 1 ranking among all universities, a spot KU has maintained since 1998, according to the university.

Other programs listed in the top 10 include occupational therapy, speech-language-pathology, public management and leadership, public affairs, petroleum engineering, urban planning and policy, school of education, physical therapy and family medicine. All rankings were updated this year except physical therapy, speech-language-pathology and occupational therapy, which have not been re-ranked since 2016, according to the U.S. News & World Report website.

Four of KU’s programs saw a significant jump among public university rankings from the year before, including part-time master’s of business administration, ranked 38th; law, ranked 35th; aerospace engineering, ranked 29th; and public affairs programs, ranked 8th. The part-time MBA program rose eight spots among public schools while the law, aerospace engineering and public affairs programs each moved up four spots.

“We look to rankings as one way to track our progress, and these U.S. News rankings highlight the many different ways we contribute to the state and region,” said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod, according to a KU news release. “As a leading research university, our graduate programs are an important part of who we are. We remain focused on our broader mission and goals to help elevate these efforts across our university.”

Top 50 programs

U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 Best Graduate Schools rankings place the following KU schools and programs in the top 50 of public schools nationwide, according to KU:

1. Local Government Management

1. Special Education

4. Occupational Therapy

5. Speech-Language-Pathology

5. Public Management and Leadership

8. Public Affairs

9. Petroleum Engineering

9. Urban Planning and Policy

9. School of Education

9. Physical Therapy

10. Family Medicine

12. Clinical Child Psychology

14. Nursing-Midwifery

14. Nursing-Anesthesia

16. Dispute Resolution (J.D.)

19. Curriculum and Instruction

20. Pharmacy

20. Audiology

20. History

21. Public Finance & Budgeting

21. Clinical Psychology

22. Social Work

25. Trial Advocacy (J.D.)

26. Medicine – Primary Care

29. Aerospace Engineering

30. Psychology

32. Healthcare Management

34. Environmental Law

35. Law

36. Medicine – Research

37. Fine Arts

38. Earth Sciences (Geology)

38. Political Science

38. Part-time MBA

38. Intellectual Property Law

39. Mathematics

40. English

40. Biology

41. International Law

42. Tax Law

43. Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering

43. Legal Writing

43. Clinical Training (J.D.)

44. Economics

44. Chemistry

45. Civil Engineering

45. Electrical Engineering

50. Chemical Engineering