The most widely read college rankings for graduate programs were released today, and Georgia Tech's graduate programs are again ranked among the finest in the nation. Georgia Tech's graduate Engineering curriculum maintained its powerful national stature, once again ranked among the top five in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Seven of the 11 programs within Tech's College of Engineering ranked among the top 10 in their respective disciplines, led by Industrial and Systems Engineering (ranked number one for the 14th year in a row) and Biomedical Engineering, which experienced a dramatic jump from 6th in 2003 to 2nd this year.

Among the highly competitive schools of business, Tech's College of Management climbed nine spots from last year to be ranked 42nd nationally, tied with the Terry School of Business at the University of Georgia.

Among public policy programs, Tech's information and technology management program ranked eighth.

"Consistency is what you look for in these types of things and consistency is what you find for Georgia Tech," said Tech president Wayne Clough. "Our consistently high rankings in Engineering indicate that we have been able to sustain a very high level of quality for a long time. It is especially gratifying to see our very young program in Biomedical Engineering receive such recognition. We have made intentional and substantial investments in both talent and facilities for Biomedical Engineering, and those investments are clearly paying off."

"I'm also very pleased to see our management program rebound from the affects of the economic slump that has hit the technology sector so hard," Clough added. "The College has truly positioned itself as a leader in entrepreneurship and the management of technology for the 21st century. And our increased focus on impacting public policy is paying dividends as well," he said. "As the world becomes increasingly complex and technology so pervasive, these types of programs will become increasingly significant. I'm glad to see that we're very well positioned here."

Tech's College of Engineering retained its position in the elite top five, behind only MIT, Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, and Illinois. The seven engineering programs ranked in the top 10 are: aerospace (4th), biomedical (2nd), civil (5th), electrical (7th), environmental (8th), industrial and systems (1st) and mechanical (7th).

"I'm very proud of the work done by our faculty, graduate students and staff to achieve these rankings," Clough said. "We're consistently competing well against some of the finest universities in the world. Rankings are not why we are here, but the trends reflected in these rankings are notable.

"It's been a great week so far," said President Clough. "We're in the top five in Engineering, top eight in Public Policy, top 50 in Business, and in the Final Four in basketball. Now we've got a little work left to do on the court this weekend!"