University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 23, March 13

                                   
          Two grad programs included among the nation's best
     
     Two University of Delaware graduate programs were
included in the March 10 issue of U.S. News & World Report
as part of its "1997 Annual Guide of Best Graduate Schools."
     The Department of Theatre tied for 10th place with
Northwestern University among schools offering master of
fine arts degrees in drama/theatre, and the College of
Engineering was ranked 49th among schools of engineering.
     "The University of Delaware has many outstanding
graduate programs. It is gratifying to receive the
recognition for the programs cited by U.S. News & World
Report," John C. Cavanaugh, graduate studies, said.
"However, such ranking systems do not adequately or
accurately capture the excellence of the faculty and
students in many other truly outstanding programs on
campus."
     Sanford L. Robbins, theatre, said, "We're very pleased
that our reputation is growing. I'm sure that many
University of Delaware graduate programs will be appearing
on the list as awareness of their quality becomes greater."
     Dean Stuart L. Cooper, engineering, said, "It is good
to see that the College of Engineering is in the top 50
colleges of engineering. However, these rankings do not
appear to factor in substantial recent progress that we have
made, which is propelling the college toward top-25 status."
     In particular, Cooper cited the University's "world-
class" chemical engineering department and Center for
Composite Materials, and he noted that the average research
expenditure per faculty member in the college is more than
$200,000, making it easily comparable to the top 10 colleges
of engineering in the nation.
     The magazine's special section ranks graduate schools
in 17 categories, including law, medicine, business,
engineering, education and the arts.