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Embargoed Until 12:01 a.m. Friday, March 31, 2000

Release:March 30, 2000

U.S. News ranks audiology, printmaking, creative writing, others No. 1

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa has the nation's top graduate programs in creative writing, printmaking, audiology, nursing service administration and speech-language pathology, according to rankings by U.S. News & World Report for the 2001 edition of its annual guide to America's Best Graduate Schools.

For several of the UI programs, the first-place ranking was a repeat from previous years, and many programs that didn't rank first were among the Top 10 in the country. The UI Colleges of Medicine, Law and Nursing also were highly ranked in the report. UI highlights from the annual guide include:

• Audiology. Ranked first this year among all such programs in the nation accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The program also ranked first in 1998, the last year audiology programs were evaluated. At the UI, the audiology program resides in the College of Liberal Arts.
• U.S. News ranks audiology, printmaking, creative writing, others No. 1
• Printmaking. Ranked first this year, a repeat of its first-place rankings in 1997, the year such programs were last evaluated.
  
• Speech Language Pathology. Ranked first this year among all such programs in the nation accredited by the ASHA. The program tied for third with the University of Washington in 1998, the last year speech-language pathology programs were evaluated. At the UI, the speech pathology program resides in the College of Liberal Arts.
  
• Nursing Service Administration. Ranked first this year among all such programs in the nation accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.

"Once again the rankings illustrate that the University of Iowa's graduate programs are strong across the board, from medicine and law to the fine arts," UI President Mary Sue Coleman said. "This is a wonderful testament to the high-caliber faculty, staff and students who work at and attend this university."

The "2001 America's Best Graduate Schools" will be on newsstands April 3. The April 10 issue of U.S. News & World Report will go on sale the same day, featuring select rankings and other excerpts from the guide. All of the rankings and articles from Best Graduate Schools will also be available at U.S. News Online (www.usnews.com) beginning Friday, March 31.

In addition to the first-place rankings, the University of Iowa ranked among the Top 10 in a variety of programs and specialties evaluated by U.S. News this year, including:

• Physician Assistant. Ranked second this year among programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, tying with George Washington University (D.C.). That's up two spots from 1998 -- the last year the specialty was evaluated -- when the UI ranked fourth.
• Physical Therapy. Ranked third this year among programs accredited by the American Physical Therapy Association, tying with Duke University, Emory University, the University of Miami (Florida), the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of Pittsburgh. That's up one spot from 1998 -- the last year the specialty was evaluated -- when it was ranked fourth along with Northwestern University and the University of Miami.
• Rehabilitation Counseling. Ranked third this year among programs accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education, tying with Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. That's up three spots from 1998 -- the last year the specialty was evaluated -- when the UI tied for sixth place with the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. At the UI, the Rehabilitation Counseling program resides in the College of Education.
• Rural Medicine. Ranked fourth this year, tying with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. That's up three spots from 1999, when the program was ranked seventh and five spots from 1998, when the program was ranked ninth.
• Nurse Practitioner-Gerontological/Geriatrics. Ranked fourth this year, up three spots from 1998 -- the last year the specialty was evaluated -- when the UI was ranked seventh.
• Social Psychology (doctoral program). Ranked fifth this year, tying with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and maintaining its ranking from 1998, when the program was last evaluated.
• College of Medicine's-Primary Care. Ranked sixth this year, tying with the University of Massachusetts-Worcester. It also ranked sixth in 1999.
• Paleontology (doctoral program). Ranked seventh this year, the same rank it achieved in 1999.
• College of Medicine-Family Medicine. Ranked ninth this year, tying with Michigan State University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of New Mexico. The program was not ranked among the Top 10 programs in 1999.
• Fine Arts. Ranked sixth this year, tying with the California Institute of Arts, Carnegie Mellon University and Indiana University-Bloomington. The program also ranked sixth in 1997 -- the last year fine arts programs were ranked -- tying with the California Institute of the Arts, Carnegie Mellon University and Indiana University-Bloomington. At the UI, the fine arts program resides in the College of Liberal Arts.

Among other colleges and programs ranked highly by U.S. News was the UI's master's program in nursing, which ranked 12th this year, tying with Indiana University-Indianapolis, Rush University in Illinois, UNC-Chapel Hill (School of Public Health), the University of California-Los Angeles, the University of Pittsburgh (Main Campus) and Yale University (University of Washington ranked No. 1). The program ranked 11th in 1998, the last year such programs were evaluated.

The UI College of Law was ranked 21st this year among 174 of the American Bar Association-accredited law schools, up two spots from 1999, when it tied for 23rd place with the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, and up three spots from 1998, when it was ranked 24th.

The political science Ph.D. program was ranked 22nd this year -- a repeat of its ranking in 1998 -- tying with Michigan State University and the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign.

The drama/theater program ranked 23rd this year, tying with Columbia University (New York), Indiana University (Bloomington), National Theater Conservatory (Colorado), SUNY-Purchase, Temple University (Pennsylvania), and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. This ranking was a repeat of 1997, when it tied with Columbia University.

The College of Medicine was ranked 32nd this year, compared with a ranking of 30th in 1999, when it tied with the University of Rochester in New York. And the College of Education was ranked 30th this year in a tie with George Washington University. In 1999, the College of Education was ranked 27th, tying with Pennsylvania State University-University Park.

"I am pleased that University of Iowa graduate programs continue to be recognized as among the best available," said Les Sims, dean of the UI Graduate School. "It is particularly gratifying that the high rankings for Iowa's graduate programs in the arts and in creative writing -- areas which were pioneered by Iowa and have historically been among our premier programs -- continue to win top honors. The other premier Iowa graduate programs highlighted in this year's rankings are in the Biomedical and Health sciences. These rankings are particularly gratifying indicators that the State Legislature's investment through the Biosciences Initiative has already resulted in important dividends for the university as well as for the state of Iowa."