The UNM School of Engineering was recently ranked among the top 50 engineering schools in the nation that offer a doctorate degree by U.S. News and World Report.
The school was ranked 46 of 50 and tied with Dartmouth College, the University of Massachusetts and Vanderbilt University.
The ranking was based on both quantitative measures and academic indicators such as peer assessment, freshman retention rate, graduation rates among freshmen who stay at the college, faculty, student resources, student selectivity and alumni involvement.
According to the article, the study's focus was "spotlighting schools with outstanding examples of academic programs that have been shown to enhance learning."
Joe Cecchi, dean of the School of Engineering, said there are two factors that set the school apart from the other schools - graduate level research programs and the diverse student population.
In addition, the school partners with UNM colleges such as the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine. It also provides students with job and internship opportunities at Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos Laboratories, Air Force research labs, Intel Corporation and Philips Semi-Conductor.
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The school also has several scholarships, including one from NASA specifically for minority students. It also has study groups, competitions and counseling to help students get more from their classes.
"Out of three schools, UNM was the only school that would support me," said Sergiy Kyrylkov, an electrical engineering graduate student. "There are great people, great professors and great equipment."
The ranking also serves to attract students from across the world, but also helps bring the best students from the state to UNM's School of Engineering, Cecchi said.
"Our primary commitment is to the citizens of New Mexico and giving them a good education," Cecchi said. "But it does help bring in people from across the world."
The school's diversity is something that makes it stand out among other engineering schools, Cecchi's said.
"We have a wonderfully diverse student body; we have 46 percent enrollment in underrepresented areas," he said. "We take full advantage of diversity."
The most important factor in the ranking, Cecchi added, is that it brings attention to the school as well as serves as recognition of the programs and opportunities.
"We were less known because we weren't on the list," he said. "The ranking increases our visibility."
Cecchi added that its graduate program has been in the magazine's top 50 for the past 4 years and that its undergraduate program just made it into the top 70 this year.
"It's a reflection of where the school has come in the last ten years," said Marc Ingber, a professor and chairman of Mechanical Engineering.
Ingber said he thinks the ranking will help the school build on its strengths by attracting the best faculty and students.
"What differentiates us is that we put emphasis on educational programs, and the faculty gives a lot of individual attention to the students and we have a great student community," he said.
Many students said the best part of the school was the professors.
Fernando Esponda, a computer science graduate student from Mexico, came to UNM because he wanted to work with a specific professor.
"The best resource is the professors," Esponda said.
