Two programs from the University of North Texas in Denton are among the top ten best graduate schools according to a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report.
On its list of the 2022 Best Graduate Schools, the media company put UNT’s homeland security and emergency management program at No. 7 and health librarianship at No. 6 nationally.
Those programs also ranked No. 1 in Texas, along with UNT’s local government management program. Public finance and budgeting and library and information studies came in at No. 2 in the state.
The College of Health and Public Service
Overall, UNT’s College of Health and Public Service offers nine master’s-level programs. That includes behavior analysis, emergency management and disaster science, public administration, and speech-language pathology. There’s also a various online certification programs available.
Out of the College of Health and Public Service, the homeland security and emergency management program—the official degree track is called a Master of Science in Emergency Management and Disaster Science—is a Master of Public Administration specialty. The degree officially became available in Fall 2018.
The mission of UNT’s Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science is to promote social resilience to disasters, the university told us. Through research, education, and engagement, students are able to advance the science of catastrophes. There’s even state of the art degrees available that incorporate FEMA’s core competencies for emergency management professionals.
Faculty is highly regarded, with some receiving grants from the National Science Foundation for cutting-edge research on the human dimensions of hazards and disasters. Most recently, the university launched a collaboration with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, in which members of the Region 1 staff maintain an office in the department on UNT’s campus.
It’s an especially important area of interest, given the rise in catastrophic disasters and emergence of new threats, UNT says.
Within that same Master of Public Administration specialty, UNT also came in at No. 12 in local government management and No. 31 in public finance and budgeting. From the College of Health and Public Service, rehabilitation counseling also ranked at No. 12.
Additional UNT rankings
But a number of other programs at the university were also recognized. Overall, UNT has 239 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
The College of Information saw new numbers this year: No. 6 in health librarianship and No. 20 in library and information studies. And, the political science program within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences was No. 59 (and No. 4 in Texas) and the materials science and engineering program within the College of Engineering was No. 68 (and No. 3 in Texas).
“We are pleased to see a growing number of our top-tier graduate programs earn national recognition,” UNT President Neal Smatresk said in a news release. “Inspired by leading scholars and researchers, our students graduate prepared to enter the rapidly changing workforce and make meaningful contributions to their fields. Graduates from these top-ranked programs have a history of advancing into leadership roles.”
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