Newly released rankings place the Keck School of Medicine of USC among the top graduate schools in the nation. The Keck School ranks No. 32 in research by U.S. News & World Report in their 2019 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

“The Keck School’s strong national ranking reaffirms the caliber of our programs and faculty,” said Laura Mosqueda, MD, interim dean of the Keck School. “This is a testament to the quality of our clinician-researchers and the innovative programs we offer our students.”

For the 2019 rankings, 118 fully accredited medical schools provided data to U.S. News & World Report. Medical schools were ranked based on the following: student selectivity admission statistics (MCAT, GPA and acceptance rate); total dollar amounts of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants; faculty resources and faculty-to-student ratio; total enrollment numbers; and overall quality assessments by peers.

The graduate school’s acceptance-to-admission ratio of 2:1 places it in the same stratum as the most elite medical schools. The Keck School students’ median MCAT score and GPA also are comparable to the top 20 medical schools.

The ranking comes on the heels of the recent eight-year accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, as well as steady increases in NIH research funding. The school received its highest NIH funding ranking to date (No. 29 nationally). Six Keck School departments rank in the top 10 across their respective departments in NIH funding, and the school ranks No. 1 nationally in NIH funding per principal investigator.

This strong focus on research also allows graduate students the opportunity to work in close collaboration with the health system to ensure convergence between clinical care, research and education.