September 8, 2010 | US News

The University of Washington Bioengineering undergraduate program is ranked 6th in the country, according to new ratings of bachelor’s degree programs by U.S. News & World Report. This marks the highest ranking ever for UW Bioengineering’s undergrad program, which moved into the top 10 last year. The doctoral program in bioengineering remained in the top 5 in the nation when the magazine’s graduate school rankings were released earlier this year.

The Bioengineering undergraduate program, which graduated its first cohort in 2003, was accredited by ABET, a national engineering board, in 2008. The program has recently undergone a comprehensive overhaul, with new core courses added to the curriculum, and students given new options for a senior research project.

UW Bioengineering moved from 12th to 7th last year, and this year moved into a three-way tie for 6th position with Rice University in Houston and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The top 10 programs in biomedical engineering can be found on the U.S. News website here:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-biomedical

The UW undergraduate program in bioengineering has been among the top 15 in the U.S. News rankings since the early 2000s, when the magazine began ranking specialty engineering undergraduate programs at Ph.D.-granting institutions. The UW Department of Bioengineering is jointly administered by the College of Engineering, which has also consistently ranked in the top 25 in the country for best undergraduate engineering schools, and the UW School of Medicine, which has ranked as the top medical school in training primary-care physicians for 17 consecutive years.

Much like the graduate school rankings, the undergraduate program rankings, which were released Aug. 20, are based on evaluations from deans and senior faculty at peer institutions.