A UF graduate school has moved up in its ranking for the first time in five years.
UF’s College of Pharmacy moved from No. 14 to No. 9 in U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 edition of the Best Graduate Schools ranking. UF’s Hough Graduate School of Business kept its ranking of 37.
Julie Johnson, the dean of the College of Pharmacy, said the college has worked to improve its program.
“There has been a complete overhaul in curriculum for our first-year students,” she said. “The new curriculum focuses on using active learning techniques and hands-on experiences.”
Johnson said she thinks the ranking will attract more students.
“Students have a lot of options when it comes to pharmacy schools, but now we are in a league of our own when it comes to the state of Florida,” Johnson said. “Not all colleges are equal, and students need to make choices based on more than what’s close to home.”
Jenna Forry, a UF pre-pharmacy accelerated program sophomore, will attend the College of Pharmacy next Fall. She said the school’s rank influenced her to accept her admission offer.
“UF’s rank is so much higher than the other school I applied to, so there really wasn’t much of a choice,” the 20-year-old said. “I want to go to the school that has a better reputation and will enable me to succeed.”
Selcuk Erenguc, the senior associate dean of Hough Graduate Programs, said he’s slightly disappointed their ranking in business schools did not improve.
“When you look at factors such as selectivity, graduates employed three months after graduation and graduates employed at graduation, we place within the top ten,” he said.
Sarah Winter, a student in UF’s combined master of international business program, said the ranking will help her when she graduates.
“Not only is it a talking point when interviewing for companies, but it is also great to know that I am receiving the best education I can,” the 21-year-old said.
How UF ranked:
Engineering - 43
Biological/Agricultural Engineering - 3
Education - 30
Clinical Psychology - 31
Occupational Therapy - 17
