According to the latest U.S. News & World Report survey of graduate programs, the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education is one of the top graduate programs in the United States. Rutgers GSE was the only graduate education program in New Jersey to be ranked by U. S. News within the top 50.

While speaking to 800 educators at the 40th Rutgers Reading & Writing Conference, GSE Dean Richard De Lisi expressed satisfaction with the school's continued rise through the rankings. "The GSE is now in the top thirteen percent of all graduate schools of education in the United States. While this is only one measure of achievement, we are nevertheless proud to see that our programs and faculty are recognized as some of the best nationally."

The U.S. News rankings compare information gathered from more than 12,000 graduate programs, including business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. For rankings of graduate education programs, 278 schools granting doctoral degrees were surveyed in 2007 and early 2008. Two-hundred and forty-two respondents provided the data upon which the rankings are based.

Programs are ranked each year based on both expert opinion and statistical measures regarding  the quality of faculty, research, and students. U.S. News modified this year's graduate education rankings, after consulting with deans of leading graduate education schools, to give more weight to the research aspects of a graduate-level education.

"GSE's thirty-sixth place ranking, which is up from forty-one only a year ago, is notable because it comes shortly after Rutgers’ top five ranking in education in Academic Analytics’ Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index. It is interesting to note that in 2007-2008, Rutgers’ professional education faculty and programs have been ranked among the nation’s best in two independent surveys that employ different methodologies," said De Lisi.

Pointing to the University's recent public outreach campaign, "Jersey Roots, Global Reach," aimed at raising awareness of Rutgers' influence, Dean De Lisi summed up: "Together, these efforts clearly demonstrate our community's commitment: to provide quality education and leadership to students and schools in both New Jersey and beyond our borders."