HHTM hasn’t tracked changes in annual rankings of audiology graduate programs on a year to year basis, but plans to do so from now on. Past rankings disappear from on the US News and World Report web page as it updates each year. Table 1 shows the top ranked programs for 2016. Table 2, at the end of this post, contains the full list of 68 program evaluations.
Table 1. Top Ranked Audiology Graduate Programs in 2016
|
Rank |
School |
|
1 |
Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN |
|
2 |
University of Iowa, Iowa City IA |
|
3 |
Washington University in St Louis |
|
4 |
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill |
|
4 |
University of Washington, Seattle WA |
|
7 |
Northwestern University, Chicago IL |
|
7 |
University of Pittsburgh |
|
9 |
Arizona State University, Tempe AZ |
|
9 |
Ohio State University, Columbus OH |
|
9 |
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago IL |
|
9 |
University of Arizona, Tucson AZ |
On Evaluating the Rankings
As yearly rankings disappear, it is hard to know, or remember, whether a school’s fortunes are trending upward or falling by this metric. At the same time, the actual value of the metric itself remains somewhat impenetrable (Why are their so many ties? What is the significance of a .1 difference?).
David Kirkwood first opined on this topic on March 21, 2012. His points, reprinted below in their entirety, are as relevant today as they were five years ago.
By David H. Kirkwood
In writing about the latest rankings of university audiology programs by U.S. News & World Report various thoughts crossed my mind
One was that it’s wise to take any such effort with a grain or two of salt. In fairness, U.S. News seems to use a reasonable approach in compiling its rankings, namely sending surveys to the administrators and faculty of every program in the country. However, I wonder how much the people at one university’s audiology program really know about the quality of most other programs.
I suspect that for the most part they are going by what they have heard about other programs’ reputation, and not on the basis of concrete, first-hand knowledge of the faculty, students, courses, and resources at other universities.
And what determines a program’s reputation? While there are various factors, I’d bet that the one that most influences U.S. News‘ “voters” is how a given audiology program did in the previous ranking, four years earlier. That would explain why, despite all the changes that may take place in a program over so long a time a period, the rankings change very little.
Another reason for skepticism about attempts to evaluate and compare audiology programs is that such judgments are inherently subjective. Knowledgeable people can and will disagree on the quality of a course, a teacher, an administrator, or a research project. And no quantitative criteria exist that can be used to produce an objective, indisputable assessment of such a complicated entity as an entire academic program.
That said, I have no quarrel with the rankings that U.S. News came up with. In my own, admittedly subjective, opinion, based on considerable experience with faculty and graduates of many of the top-ranked audiology programs, I have no reason to doubt that they deserve the high scores they have been given.
On the other hand, there are also some outstanding teachers, writers, and researchers at less heralded programs. It would be a mistake for that reality to be forgotten in the excitement and controversy over the question of who’s number one.
The 2016 List
Sixty-eight programs in the US are included in the 2016 US New and World Report rankings (Table 2). Six schools weren’t ranked: Bloomsburg Univ of Pennsylvania, Lamar University (Beaumont TX), Louisiana Tech University (Ruston LA), University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus (San Juan PR), University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg MS), University of the Pacific (San Francisco CA).
Table 2. Audiology Graduate Program Ranking for 2016
|
Rank |
School |
|
1 |
Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN |
|
2 |
University of Iowa, Iowa City IA |
|
3 |
Washington University in St Louis |
|
4 |
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill |
|
4 |
University of Washington, Seattle WA |
|
7 |
Northwestern University, Chicago IL |
|
7 |
University of Pittsburgh |
|
9 |
Arizona State University, Tempe AZ |
|
9 |
Ohio State University, Columbus OH |
|
9 |
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago IL |
|
9 |
University of Arizona, Tucson AZ |
|
13 |
Indiana University–Bloomington, Bloomington IN |
|
13 |
Purdue University–West Lafayette, West Lafayette IN |
|
13 |
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN |
|
13 |
University of Texas–Austin TX |
|
17 |
James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA |
|
17 |
University at Buffalo–SUNY, Buffalo NY |
|
17 |
University of Colorado–Boulder CO |
|
17 |
University of Maryland–College Park MD |
|
17 |
University of Memphis, Memphis TN |
|
17 |
University of South Florida, Tampa FL |
|
17 |
University of Wisconsin AuD Consortium, Madison WI |
|
24 |
University of Kansas, Lawrence KS |
|
25 |
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY |
|
26 |
University oof Cincinnati OH |
|
26 |
University of Florida, Gainesville FL |
|
26 |
University of Nebraska–Lincoln NE |
|
26 |
University of Tennessee–Knoxville TN |
|
30 |
Northeast Ohio AuD Consortium (Univ of Akron-Kent State Univ), Kent OH |
|
30 |
San Diego State University, San Diego CA |
|
30 |
University of Connecticut, Storrs CT |
|
30 |
University of Massachusetts–Amherst MA |
|
34 |
Central Michigan University, Mt Pleasant MI |
|
34 |
Gallaudet University, Washington DC |
|
34 |
University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign IL |
|
37 |
Ohio University, Athens OH |
|
38 |
CUNY-Brooklyn College, New York NY |
|
38 |
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City TN |
|
38 |
Northeastern University, Boston MA |
|
38 |
Towson University, Towson MD |
|
38 |
University of Louisville KY |
|
38 |
Univerrsity of Northerrn Colorado, Greeley CO |
|
38 |
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City OK |
|
45 |
Auburn University, Auburn AL |
|
45 |
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb IL |
|
45 |
Wayne State Univerrsity, Detroit MI |
|
48 |
Montclair State University, Montclair NJ |
|
48 |
University of North Texas, Denton TX |
|
48 |
University of Utah, Salt Lake City UT |
|
48 |
Utah State University, Logan UT |
|
48 |
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI |
|
53 |
East Carolina University, Greenville NC |
|
53 |
Louisiana State University Medical Centerr–New Orleans LA |
|
53 |
Missouri State University, Springfield MO |
|
53 |
West Virginia Univeresity, Morgantown WV |
|
57 |
LI AuD Consortium (Adelphi-Hofstra-St John’s Univ), Garden City NY |
|
57 |
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock TX |
|
57 |
University of Arkansas–Little Rock AR |
|
57 |
University of South Dakota, Vermillion SD |
|
57 |
Wichita State University, Wichita KS |
|
62 |
Ball State University, Muncie IN |
|
62 |
Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale FL |
|
62 |
Salus University, Elkins Park PA |
|
65 |
Illinois State Univerersity, Normal IL |
|
65 |
University of South Alabama, Mobile AL |
|
67 |
A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, Mesa AZ |
|
67 |
Idaho State University, Pocatello ID |
feature image from psychology schools
