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Source: Richard Marston, 785-532-6727, rmarston@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/marstonbio.html
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
WEB SITE WWW.PHDS.ORG RATES K-STATE'S GEOGRAPHY PROGRAM NO. 1 FOR SMALL, LESS EXPENSIVE INSTITUTIONS
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's geography department is No. 1 among small, less expensive institutions, according to the Web site PhDs.org, available at http://www.phds.org
The site has compiled rankings of doctoral programs across the country. Users can see how programs rank by specific traits like educational quality and outcomes, faculty reputation and activity, tuition and expenses, funding and student support, student demographics, program size and undergraduate selectivity.
More broadly, the site also looks at how programs stack up by traits it assigned to types of programs, including those that are small and prestigious, large and prestigious, small and less expensive or large and less expensive.
Of traits assigned to small and less expensive programs, K-State ranks No. 1, far ahead of schools like the University of California at Berkeley, Boston University and Rutgers University. K-State also ranks No. 3 for the traits of small and prestigious programs, behind only Syracuse and Ohio State universities.
"We are proud of the K-State geography program and its national visibility," said Duane Nellis, K-State senior vice president and provost. "We celebrate the quality of faculty and graduate student success in combination with K-State being a quality yet inexpensive university."
PhDs.org is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and a Burke Research Initiation Award from Dartmouth College. Data come from the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council and the National Center for Education Statistics.
Richard Marston, head of the K-State department of geography and a university distinguished professor of geography, said the ranking system was meaningful because it used quantitative data from high-profile sources rather than relying on "vague notions of reputation."
"K-State's geography program ranked high because our doctoral students finish their degrees in a timely fashion," Marston said. "Also, we have a high rate of success placing Ph.D. graduates in jobs. Finally, the tuition at K-State is affordable."
K-State's doctoral program in geography was approved in 1995, and the first doctoral students graduated in 2000, making K-State's program relatively young, Marston said.
"In comparison with all 56 doctoral programs in the country -- large and small, expensive and inexpensive -- K-State's geography program ranks No. 20," Marston said. "The only Big 12 program that ranked higher was the University of Colorado at Boulder. The credit goes to the faculty who have been here for a long time, the new, productive faculty we have hired, as well as the diligence of talented students and the dedication and support of our staff."
More information on K-State's rankings is available at http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/geography/ and more information about K-State's geography program is at http://www.k-state.edu/geography/
