NM Tech's Hydrology and Petroleum Programs Rank Highly

by George Zamora

SOCORRO, N.M., March 19, 1999 -- For the fourth year in a row, New Mexico Tech's graduate program in hydrology has once again been rated among the best in the nation in the latest U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of graduate schools.

And, for the first time ever, New Mexico Tech's graduate program in petroleum engineering has made the guidebook's top ten list in that field of study.

The small, yet renowned, hydrology program at the state-supported research university was once again ranked as the nation's fourth-best graduate program in the specialty area of hydrogeology, behind much larger schools such as the University of Arizona (ranked first), Stanford University (ranked second), and the University of Wisconsin at Madison (ranked third).

In the soon-to-be-released guidebook's rankings, New Mexico Tech bested several academic luminaries, including Penn State (ranked fifth), University of Texas at Austin (ranked sixth), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tied at eighth).

New Mexico Tech's graduate program in petroleum engineering was listed in the latest issue as being the tenth-best program available in the nation in the specialty area of petroleum geology.

In the three prior annual surveys and analyses conducted by U.S. News & World Report, New Mexico Tech's graduate program in hydrology also ended up being ranked each time as the country's fourth-best in that particular academic discipline.

The U.S. News & World Report's 2000 America's Best Graduate Schools guidebook will be available in newsstands and bookstores on Tuesday, April 6.