Hopkins medical school falls to No. 3 in U.S. News rankings

Johns Hopkins University‘s medical school fell one spot to No. 3 in the nation, while its education school rose to No. 2, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report graduate school rankings.

The medical school ranked behind those of Harvard University and Stanford University among the top institutions for medical research. University of Maryland, Baltimore’s medical school ranked No. 37.

Other Maryland institutions to rank among the top 10 in their disciplines were the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Francis King Carey School of Law’s part-time program, the University of Maryland, College Park’s library sciences school, Johns Hopkins’ public health and nursing schools and the Maryland Institute College of Art’s fine arts program.

The rankings appeared in the magazine’s 2014 Best Graduate Schools Rankings released Tuesday. Ranking criteria vary by discipline, but are generally based on admissions selectivity and expert opinions on program quality, according to a U.S. News news release.

The medical school rankings weigh in assessments by peer academic officials and residency program directors, research activity in total and per faculty member, admissions selectivity, students’ MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs, and student-to-faculty ratios.

“We consider it an honor to be consistently ranked among the very top medical schools in the nation,” Hopkins spokeswoman Ellen Beth Levitt said. “Small point differences from year-to-year can account for changes in a school’s specific ranking.”

The education school at Hopkins rose four spots to lag behind only Vanderbilt University for its graduate studies. That was after rising from No. 18 to No. 6 in the 2013 rankings. The education school launched as its own entity in 2007, housed before that along with what is now the university’s Carey Business School.

Maryland programs appeared on the following lists:

•Engineering: University of Maryland, College Park, down one spot to No. 19; Johns Hopkins, up one spot to No. 25.

•Business: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 37.

•Part-time law programs: University of Maryland, Baltimore, No. 6.

•Library and information studies: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 10.

•Criminology: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 1.

•Economics: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 22; Johns Hopkins University, No. 24.

•English: Johns Hopkins University, No. 13.

•History: Johns Hopkins University, No. 11.

•Sociology: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 24.

•Computer science: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 14.

•Mathematics: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 20; Johns Hopkins University, No. 24.

•Physics: University of Maryland, College Park, No. 14; Johns Hopkins University, No. 19.

•Public health: Johns Hopkins University, No 1.

•Nursing: Johns Hopkins University, No. 1; University of Maryland, Baltimore, No. 11.

•Fine arts: Maryland Institute College of Art, No. 7.