TROY, N.Y. – The U.S. News & World Report released its annual graduate school rankings this week, and the engineering programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute continue to be ranked among the nation’s best.

The graduate offerings at the Rensselaer School of Engineering received an overall ranking of 41st in the U.S., placing it among the top four in the state of New York.

U.S. News surveyed 214 engineering schools that grant doctoral degrees and calculated rankings for the 199 that responded with the necessary data. The organization considers factors such as reputation, research activity, and student selectivity when determining their list of the country’s top graduate engineering schools. Rensselaer has consistently ranked among the top 45 for the past 20 years.

In addition to the overall rankings for engineering schools, U.S. News also issues program-specific rankings based solely on reputational surveys. The chemical engineering, civil engineering, materials science engineering, and mechanical engineering programs at Rensselaer all rose in their respective rankings this year.

Additionally, four Rensselaer programs ranked among the top 25 in their specialty. Aerospace engineering ranked 23rd, industrial engineering ranked 21st, nuclear engineering ranked 13th, and materials science and engineering ranked 22nd in the nation.

The School of Engineering, one of five schools at Rensselaer, is home to seven departments offering 11 undergraduate and 19 graduate degrees. Notable alumni who have graduated from the School of Engineering include Steven Sasson, inventor of the first digital camera, Marcian “Ted” Hoff, inventor of the microprocessor, and Ray Tomlinson, inventor of email.

The research conducted by the school addresses some of the world’s most pressing technological challenges, from energy security and sustainable development to biotechnology and human health. This interdisciplinary effort to find new solutions for significant global challenges is an essential part of the Rensselaer vision for The New Polytechnic.

The U.S. News did not issue new rankings for graduate schools and programs in all subjects this year. Updates were primarily focused on doctoral programs in law, business, engineering, medicine, nursing, and education.

In addition to Engineering, Rensselaer offers numerous academic programs in the schools of Science; Architecture; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; and the Lally School of Management; as well as an interdisciplinary degree in Information Technology and Web Science.