Clark University Geography Program Top Ranked in the Nation

The doctorate program at the Clark University Graduate School of Geography is top-ranked in the nation by the National Research Council (NRC).

In April, the NRC released an update to its Data-Based Assessment on Research Doctorate Programs in the United States, a complex and long-anticipated assessment first published in September 2010. Clark ranks at the top with UCLA, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Clark stands out among the 49 geography doctoral programs evaluated in the NRC report as the only top-10 department that is housed within a liberal arts research university, and as one of a small number of departments that sustains a balanced program of research and education across the full breadth of the discipline.

As the oldest, sustained doctoral program in Geography in the country, Clark Geography has granted the largest number of doctoral degrees in the United States and is consistently ranked among the top programs and sustains its reputation in various polls and peer-review rankings.

Clark Geography faculty and students have established themselves as global leaders in innovative, theory-driven research spanning geography’s subfields (urban-economic, human-environment, earth-system sciences, Geographic Information Science). Clark’s new president, David Angel, is an economic geographer.

Clark doctoral alumni achieve prominent academic and senior non-academic research positions (e.g., NASA). Many international alumni hold important government positions in their home countries (e.g., European Commission) or with non-profit organizations (e.g., National Coffee Growers’ Federation in Colombia).

Clark University is a teaching and research institution founded in 1887 as the first all-graduate school in the United States. Until Clark instituted undergraduate programs in 1902, the university offered only Ph.D. granting programs. Clark is also one of the oldest universities to offer formal graduate programs, second only to Johns Hopkins University.

The NRC assessment is based on a variety of data, including faculty research funding, publications, faculty composition, program size, and others. The doctoral programs assessed were scored within two major categories: peer-to-peer survey assessment and objective categories. The updated NRC report also ranks Clark University among the top in a number of objective categories, including percentage of students with external fellowships, average number of Ph.D. graduates, percentage of international students, diversity, faculty performance and awards, research activity and citations per faculty publication.

To learn more, visit the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University, or contact geography@clarku.edu.

[Source: Clark University press release]