The School of Engineering and several of its programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute made gains on this year’s list of Best Graduate Engineering Programs by U.S. News & World Report.

The School of Engineering ranked 38th in the nation, up from 42nd a year ago. Within the school, mechanical engineering moved up three spots to 24, while civil engineering moved up three spots to 26, and environmental engineering moved up from 41 to 34. Overall, six engineering graduate programs were ranked among the top 25 in their field, while nine programs ranked within the top 30 in their field.

These increases mirrors the gains made last year on the U.S. News & World Report 2012 list of Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs, in which Rensselaer was ranked 23rd. Another external survey last year, by industry-focused website Business Insider, recognized engineering at Rensselaer by ranking the Institute fourth on its list of “World’s Best Engineering Schools.”

“The School of Engineering at Rensselaer is known around the world for excellence in education and research, and the success of its graduates. The latest graduate program rankings by U.S. News, as well as last year’s undergraduate program rankings, highlight our upward trajectory and further affirm the high quality and impact of a Rensselaer engineering education. We are pleased to see many of our most popular graduate programs ranked among the top 25 in their field, and to be recognized as among the nation’s top 40 engineering graduate schools,” said David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer.

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer is the oldest technology university in the English-speaking world. For nearly two centuries, the Institute has been a driving force behind breakthroughs in engineering and science in virtually every arena—from transportation and telecommunications to business, medicine, outer space, and cyberspace.

Today, 3,000 undergraduate students and 700 graduate students are enrolled in the School of Engineering at Rensselaer, and 70 percent of incoming first-year engineering students were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. The School of Engineering’s seven academic departments offer 30 different degree programs. Research conducted at Rensselaer addresses some of the world’s most pressing technological challenges—from energy security and sustainable development to biotechnology and human health—and the School of Engineering’s 165 faculty members are at the leading edge of their fields. The engineering faculty’s annual research expenditures total more than $50 million.

The School of Engineering is one of five schools at Rensselaer, through which students at all levels are engaged in and researching a wide array of critical 21^st-century challenges. In addition to Engineering, the university offers more than 145 programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels in the schools of Science; Architecture; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; and the Lally School of Management & Technology; as well as an interdisciplinary degree in Information Technology.

For more information on the School of Engineering at Rensselaer, visit: http://eng.rpi.edu/soe