Several graduate and professional school programs at the University of California, Davis, have been listed among the top in the country by U.S. News & World Report, which released its rankings today. The agricultural engineering graduate program ranked fifth in the country. The campus's doctoral programs in biological sciences ranked 20th and the geology doctoral program ranked 25th. The Graduate School of Management surged from 59th a year ago to 39th, putting UC Davis in the top 20 in the nation among public business schools. The College of Engineering ranked 44th, a drop from its listing of 37th last year, placing it 25th among public schools, and the School of Law was listed as 41st, a drop from its listing of 30th last year, placing it 17th among public schools. Information on the School of Medicine's ranking is still being sought. "UC Davis has always been exceptionally strong in the sciences, so today's top-tier rankings in ag engineering, biology and geology are delightful -- but not surprising -- news," said Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. "It's particularly pleasing, as well, to see the high national regard for engineering, law and our graduate school of management. Our critical elements of success, of course, are our highly respected faculty, our outstanding graduate students and our exceptionally able deans and department chairs." U.S. News & World Report conducted a reputational survey of several selected science doctoral programs based on scholarship, curriculum and the quality of faculty and graduate students. Professional school programs were evaluated on additional criteria, including placement of students in jobs. Mark McNamee, dean of the biological sciences division, said, "We keep rising in the ranks and this reflects the fact that at UC Davis we've taken a campuswide approach to graduate education in biology and are able to capitalize on our strengths this way." Howard Day, chair of the geology department, said, "We're really pleased by our continued rise and recognition. This confirms our philosophy of hiring the best young people we can and giving them what they need to do their job." Robert Smiley, dean of the 15-year-old Graduate School of Management, was pleased with his business school's ranking among the nation's 292 accredited MBA programs. "We've developed a curriculum that provides students with unique opportunities for personal and professional growth. The school brings together some of the best students in the nation with top scholars to create an MBA program that emphasizes individual development of each student's potential." Bruce Wolk, dean of the School of Law, said the school was still reviewing what is a complicated ranking system to determine what may have caused the school's ranking to drop this year. "It looks like we're hurt by job placements and the fact that California has had a tough time in the market," he said. "Looking at the big picture, though, we're still ranked better than three out of four law schools." The "America's Best Graduate Schools" information will appear in the March 18 issue of the magazine. This is the seventh annual graduate school issue. The programs reviewed this issue were business, medicine, education, library science, computer science, physics, geology, law, engineering, journalism, biological sciences, chemistry and mathematics.