USC doctoral programs gain in National Research Council ratings

The University of South Carolina’s engineering and arts and sciences doctoral programs are among the best in the South, a national study reported.

Several of USC’s programs earned national recognition as well, the report said.

According the National Research Council, which conducted the report, USC’s electrical engineering program ranks seventh nationally in the assessment that measures program quality and sixth in faculty research productivity. It is ranked No. 1 in the South in both areas. Three programs in USC’s College of Engineering and Computing are ranked in the top 10 in the Southern region.

Also, the university’s geography Ph.D. program is second in the South and 10th nationally. The history Ph.D. program is ranked seventh in the South and 36th nationally, and biological sciences are eighth in the South and 29th nationally.

“This rise in national and international stature reflects the evolution of the University of South Carolina from a largely regional teaching university to a nationally recognized research institution,” said Michael Amiridis, USC’s vice president for academic affairs and provost.

The report assessed more than 5,000 doctoral programs at 212 institutions around the country. It does not include law, medicine, business and education programs.

Some of USC’s other programs in the top 50 nationally include: chemistry (47), chemical engineering (29), comparative literature (22), English (26), mechanical engineering (31), and pharmacy (41).

In 1993, the last year that NRC issued its assessment, 16 USC doctoral programs were ranked nationally, with only three in top 50. The latest report includes 25 nationally ranked programs, with 14 in the top 50.

The NRC report, which evaluated 62 academic fields, is a sequel to the group’s 1995 rankings of doctoral programs and is based on different methodology from the previous effort. The 1995 report was primarily based on reputation surveys, while the new assessment attempts to measure objective characteristics, including areas such as the amount of time it takes a student to earn a degree and publications per faculty member.

USC leaders attributed the progress to the quality of faculty hired since the early 1990s, reflected in the high rankings for faculty research accomplishments.

“This change can largely be attributed to university, state and federal investments in our research and our initiative to hire the very best faculty,” Amiridis said.

USC’s research funding climbed to a record $218.8 million in fiscal year 2010 — a 4% increase over the previous year and 26% higher than five years ago. USC also is one of only 63 public universities listed by the Carnegie Foundation in the highest tier of research institutions in the United States, and is the only university in the state with that designation.