Are there rankings for undergrad programs in specific majors?

College Search & Selection
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<p>I've just started my college search, and I was wondering — how can you compare undergrad programs in different fields?</p>

<p>For instance, say I was interested in majoring in journalism — through word of mouth, I've heard Unviersity of Missouri has an excellent program, but I've never read this anywhere or seen rankings.</p>

<p>And that's just an example. I might be interested in any number of majors (biology, creative writing, computer science, etc.), and I was just wondering if there's any way I could quickly compare or evaluate schools' individual departments in this sort of thing.</p>

<p>Oops, I'm rambling >.< Any help is appreciated.</p>

<p>((Sorry, last post didn't work for some reason))</p>

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<p>I've just started my college search, and I was wondering </p>

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<p>I've just started my college search, and I was wondering </p>

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<p>HEy azureye.
Yea U Missouri also known as Mizzou is really good in Journalism.
located in a great college town as well.
Indiana University is supposed to be really good as well, al though its famous for business and Music.
Harvard: If you have good enough stats :D</p>

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<p>azureye-- yes, there are some rankings. USNews ranks undergrad engineering & business programs/majors. IMO, the $15 for the online edition is worth it when you're in search mode:
<a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php&lt;/a>
Can't see much of the departmental rankings without paying the online subscription.</p>

<p>Some other college guides also rate colleges with best undergard programs or majors. For instance, the Fiske Guide lists "colleges and universities with unusual strength in each of nine preprofessional areas:engineering, architecture, business, art/design, drama, dance, music, communications/journalism, and film/television......environmental studies and international studies."</p>

<p>Here's the 2005 Fiske list of "major universities strong in Communications/Journalism":
American
Arizona State
Boston U
UCLA
UCSD
U Florida
U Georgia
UIUC
Indiana
Ithaca
U Kansas
U Maryland
U Michigan
U Missouri - Columbia
U Nebraska
UNC Chapel Hill
Northwestern
Ohio U
u Oregon
Pepperdine
St Lawrence
U San Francisco
U Southern California
Stanford
Syracuse
Texas Christian
U Utah
U Wisconsin Madison</p>

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<p>There aren't many undergraduate program rankings because at the undergraduate level, education is more than just one's major. There qare other intangibles that go into the makings of a great undergraduate experience. </p>

<p>However, in some specific fields, like Engineering, Business, Architecture, Nursing and Journalism etc..., there are some commonly accepted powerhouses. Of course, a university with a top graduate department will tend to be very strong at the undergraduate level too, unless the university is devoid of resources to offer undergrads an adequate learning environment, but that is rare. </p>

<p>For Journalism, I hear Northwestern and Missouri are excellent. I also hear that Syracuse, UNC-Chapel Hill and USC are excellent.</p>

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<p>The Gourman Report ranks colleges by specific majors. Most of these rankings can be found with the CC advanced search engine. Search for keywords like the major you are interested in, "Gourman", and the poster "collegehelp".</p>

<p>Rugg's Recommendations rates schools by specific majors including LACs. Gourman overlooks LACs.</p>

<p>You can also get some rough idea about quality from the absolute size and relative size of the number of students in the major. Search CC for keywords "national universities" or "national liberal arts colleges" by poster "collegehelp".</p>