U.S. News ranks the Georgia Tech Graduate College of Engineering 4th in the nation, with most of its programs appearing in the top 10.  The rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinions about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research, and students.  These data come from surveys of more than 1,200 programs and some 12,400 academics and professionals that were conducted in fall 2009.  Deans, program directors, and senior faculty judged the academic quality of programs in their field on a scale of 1 ("marginal") to 5 ("outstanding"). 

In engineering, U.S. News also surveyed professionals who hire new graduates.  For the second year in a row, the two most recent years' surveys were averaged to compute the assessment scores among professionals.  The indicators used in used in this year's rankings fall into two categories: measures of the qualities that students and faculty bring to the educational experience and measures of graduates' achievements linked to their degrees.

To arrive at a school's rank, U.S. News examined the data for each quality indicator.  Final scores were rescaled and schools were placed in descending order.

The rankings are as follows: 

4th Top Engineering Graduate Programs

• Industrial and Systems Engineering – 1st


• Aerospace Engineering – 4th


• Biomedical Engineering – 2nd


• Civil Engineering – 3rd


• Chemical Engineering – 11th


• Electrical Engineering – 6th


• Environmental Engineering – 5th


• Materials Science and Engineering – 8th


• Mechanical Engineering – 6th


• Nuclear Engineering – 8th