(File/The Daily Campus)
On March 20, 2018, U.S. News released their rankings for best public graduate schools of education for 2019, placing UConn’s Neag School at number 17. This ranking is not exactly unexpected, as Neag has consistently placed within the top 20 schools for the past three years. However, that does not make it any less exciting and impressive that the program continues to do so well. Of course, U.S. News and other ranking systems that rate our programs highly are not the only reason this program has amazing value and importance at UConn, but it never hurts to be recognized.
U.S. News’s rankings come out every year with plenty of different lists. Whether it be for jobs or undergraduate or graduate programs, these rankings are looked at by prospective students all over the country to explore highly regarded programs in their fields. These rankings may not be the most important choice that students make when looking at potential programs for themselves, but they do play a part in showcasing the quality of education one can expect from a specific school.
It is the quality of faculty and staff, along with the rigorous coursework and innovative research that makes Neag so special, not the U.S. News Ranking alone. UConn in general is known for utilizing advances in research and technology to better prepare students for their future careers, and the school of education does not differ in this regard. An example of this is their program regarding teacher preparedness, a large focus of the education program. Recent studies done by the American Institutes for Research have yielded new findings regarding best practices and strategies for maximizing teacher preparedness, and Neag has already begun implementing some of these techniques to improve UConn’s pre-teaching programs. In doing this, Neag is both improving specific aspects of students’ education and also showing that they are innovative within the field of education, earning them a top spot in national rankings like U.S. News.
It is clear that the Neag School of Education at UConn consistently deserves to be highly regarded by lists like the U.S. News Rankings but also by people around the world. This ranking is important to those who have graduated from and those currently in Neag and hopefully will help assure future students of the top quality education awaiting them at UConn.
