With the release of the U.S. News and World Report's 2009 rankings, UT has proved it is not only a top athletic school, but a top academic school as well; a fact that students and faculty at UT already knew.

Each year, the U.S. News and World Report collects information from more than 12,000 graduate programs and ranks them based on a set criteria, according to the U.S. News Web site.

"These rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students," the Web site said.

The expert opinion comes from the evaluations from deans, senior faculty and program directors of programs in their field. They are asked to rate the programs on a scale of one to five, with five being "outstanding," according to U.S. News.com.

By these criteria, eight of UT's graduate programs ranked in the top 50 programs in the country and three ranked in the top 25, according to a UT press release.

Two graduate programs at UT ranked in the top 10. In the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Art's printmaking graduate program ranked 4th. The College of Business Administration's graduate program in supply chain and logistics ranked 10th, according to the press release.

Ours is one of the foremost supply chain and logistics programs in the country, thanks to the caliber of our curriculum and faculty. This ranking recognizes our graduate program, but UT also is known for its strong supply chain and logistics curriculum across all levels of education, from undergraduate through graduate and executive education.  College of Business Administration dean Jan Williams"Ours is one of the foremost supply chain and logistics programs in the country, thanks to the caliber of our curriculum and faculty," Jan Williams, dean of the College of Business Administration said. "This ranking recognizes our graduate program, but UT also is known for its strong supply chain and logistics curriculum across all levels of education, from undergraduate through graduate and executive education."

The Master of Arts program in the School of Art, which is in the College of Arts and Sciences, ranked 50th. The Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, also in the College of Arts and Sciences, ranked high, with the audiology program ranking 24th and the speech pathology program ranking 30th. In the College of Engineering, the nuclear engineering program ranked 11th, while the entire graduate program in the college ranked 69th. In the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, the education graduate program ranked 35th, and  the College of Social Work graduate program ranked 26th, said the press release.

UT's College of Law did well with a 52 out of 184 accredited law schools. It's specialty in clinical training ranked 16th in the country, according to the press release.

"With graduate programs becoming ever more vital to our nation, these rankings are a testament to the talent and drive of our faculty and the depth of our academic programs," Interim Chancellor Jan Simek said. "As we work to raise our profile among national universities, our academic strengths benefit our students and the entire state."

Of the 11 colleges on UT's Knoxville campus, six received these impressive rankings.