DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas’ College of Education received high marks with its student counseling and personnel services graduate program earning the first spot in Texas, 12th among public universities and a 14th ranking overall, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 list of Best Graduate Schools.

The College of Education also ranked third in Texas, 73rd among public universities and 93rd overall in the nation. Last year, the college was ranked 127th.

“This movement in our rankings shows that our outstanding faculty and programs are getting more of the reputation they deserve. It’s not about the rankings in themselves, but about being better known for quality – so that our students will get more opportunities,” said College of Education Dean Randy Bomer. “We will keep striving to be better, and we trust that the rankings will follow our improvement.”

UNT currently has 72 academic programs ranked among the nation’s top 100, and 19 of those are ranked in the top 100 by U.S. News & World Report.

“Our academic programs are some of the best in the country and it is wonderful to see the hard work of our faculty, staff and students recognized in national publications like U.S. News & World Report,” said UNT President Neal Smatresk. “UNT students and faculty make a tremendous impact on the world through innovative research, creative pursuits, and continuously win top honors and international competitions. Our students graduate prepared to enter the rapidly changing workforce and make meaningful contributions.”

Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks professional school programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing, including specialties in each area.

The Best Graduate Schools rankings in these areas are based on two types of data: expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students.

The data for the rankings in all six disciplines come from statistical surveys of more than 2,054 programs and from reputation surveys sent to more than 22,018 academics and professionals, conducted in fall 2018 and early 2019.