US News releases 2023 rankings for Florida graduate schools
Fresh Take Florida
Four Florida law schools were among the top 100 in the country, although some declined in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings released Tuesday for graduate schools.
US News, a digital magazine, rates the schools starting from No. 1. Thus, the lower the rank, the better.
How did Florida schools fare? We looked at three main fields — law, medicine and business.
How UF, FSU, UM and FIU law schools ranked
The top law school in the state, according to the rankings, is the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida in Gainesville. It placed No. 21 among all law schools in the U.S. for the 2023 rankings.
This year, UF, public university, tied with the University of Minnesota. UF held the same spot last year.
FROM 2022: UF leads rankings for graduate programs in law, medicine and business
Among the Florida schools, UF was followed by the Tallahassee-based Florida State University public law school, which placed No. 47 and tied with the University of Maryland. Last year, FSU ranked No. 48, tied with the University of Colorado-Boulder.
The third best law school in Florida went to the University of Miami, which ranked No. 73 this year — a slight decline from its No. 72 last year.
UM tied with four other law schools this year: American University, Loyola University in Chicago, Northeastern University and Seton Hall University. Last year, it tied with four others as well: Case Western Reserve University, Loyola Marymount University, St. John’s University and the University of Oregon.
The private law school in Coral Gables made national news last summer when UM President Julio Frenk abruptly dismissed law school dean Anthony Varona, sparking outrage in the legal community.
In an emailed statement, UM spokeswoman Megan Ondrizek didn’t comment on the reasons affecting its 2023 rankings.
“Our 7,000 graduate, medical, and law students from 100 countries choose from more than 200 doctoral and masters programs,” she wrote. “We are pleased that many of our graduate programs saw notable gains in this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings.”
READ MORE: Law dean ousted from the University of Miami last year gets new job at another law school
FIU College of Law was ranked No. 98, down from No. 88 last year.
This year, FIU tied with Brooklyn Law School, Howard University, Indiana University in Indianapolis and Saint Louis University. Last year, it tied with Lewis & Clark College and the University of New Hampshire.
FIU law dean Antony Page, in an emailed statement sent through FIU spokeswoman Maydel Santana, said the college dropped because US News takes into account how many alumni got a job after graduating in March, and last year more graduates than typical were employed after that date.
“FIU Law scored the same or better in all material respects in every category but 10-month employment,” he wrote. “This year, employment trends have improved, and as of today, more than 95% of our most recent graduates have been placed.”
In a press release, the public university highlighted other rankings specific to law programs including its part-time law program ranking No. 14 and its international law program coming in at No. 19.
“These rankings complement other incredible accomplishments in research, teaching, and innovation at FIU,” said Elizabeth M. Béjar, FIU’s interim provost, in the press release, referring to the 19 categories that FIU was ranked, not just law.
Overall this year, Yale University ranked No. 1, Stanford University snatched No. 2 and the University of Chicago, No. 3.
Last year, Yale and Stanford were 1 and 2, respectively, but Harvard University came in No. 3.
To read more about the 2023 law school rankings, click here
Rankings recognize eight medical schools in Florida
Under its medical school rankings in research, US News classified UF as the top school in Florida as No. 37. It tied with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the University of Rochester and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Last year, UF tied as No. 36 with the University of Rochester and Brown University.
Closely behind UF, the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine at UM rose to No. 43, from No. 45 last year, when it tied the University of Massachusetts-Worcester and Dartmouth College. This year, UM tied with the University of Cincinnati and the University of Minnesota.
The Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida, a public school in Tampa, grabbed the No. 46 ranking.
Last year, USF secured the No. 48 spot, tied with the University of California-Davis, the University of California-Irvine and Wake Forest University.
The public University of Central Florida in Orlando came in as No. 87, tied with the Eastern Virginia Medical School, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the University of Louisville and the University of New Mexico.
UCF tied for No. 86 with Drexel University last year.
The FIU Wertheim College of Medicine ranked No. 95-124 in medical schools in the research specialty, compared to No. 93-123 last year.
Also on the No. 95-124 range: the public Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton; FSU’s medical school; and the Nova Southeastern University Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Overall, the best research medical schools in the country, according to the rankings, are Harvard University as No. 1, New York University as No. 2, and Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of California-San Francisco — all tied at No. 3.
Last year, the rankings were: Harvard, No. 1; NYU, No. 2; and Duke University, No. 3.
To read more about the 2023 medical school rankings, click here.
FIU business school falls out of the rankings, UM tumbles
The Warrington College of Business at UF beat all other Florida business schools. It landed on No. 29 when compared to all business schools in the country this year, tied with Arizona State University, the University of Texas-Dallas and Washington University in St. Louis.
Last year, UF tied at No. 26 with Emory University.
UM’s Herbert Business School chalked up No. 67 on the list, down seven rankings when compared to last year’s No. 60. This year, it tied with North Carolina State University, Texas Christian University and the University of Colorado-Boulder this year. Last year, UM tied the University of Connecticut and Baylor University.
FIU’s business school was unranked this year. Last year, it placed among the No. 110-143 group. According to FIU’s press release Tuesday, its international MBA program positioned itself as No. 2 in the nation.
Among all graduate business schools this year, the University of Chicago triumphed at No. 1, the University of Pennsylvania as No. 2 and Northwestern University as No. 3.
Last year, the top three business schools were: Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago.
To read more about the 2023 business school rankings, click here.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 8:11 PM.
Jimena Tavel covers higher education for the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald. She’s a bilingual reporter with triple nationality: Honduran, Cuban and Costa Rican. Born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, she moved to Florida at age 17. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2018, and joined the Herald soon after.