Last month, U.S. News and World Report came out with its 2006 rankings of American Universities and Colleges. Carnegie Mellon's Business and Engineering schools were ranked in the top 20 in many categories, while the University as a whole ranked 22^nd.

Many specialty programs in Business were given top rankings. Information Systems Management, Quantitative Analysis, and Production and Operations Management were all ranked second in their respective categories, while Supply Chain Management ranked fifth.

The newly named Tepper School of Business was ranked fifth for undergraduate business schools, with Finance ranked ninth, Entrepreneurship ranked 19^th, Marketing ranked 20^th, and Management ranked 24^th.

Carnegie Institute of Technology was ranked eighth overall for undergraduate engineering schools, with Electrical Engineering ranked 10^th, Material Science ranked 11^th, and Chemical Engineering ranked 14^th. Civil, Environmental, and Mechanical Engineering all ranked 13^th in their separate categories. CIT's specialty program in Computer Engineering was ranked third.

The U.S. News rankings are formed based on several criteria such as graduation and retention rates, alumni giving rates, faculty resources, and student selectivity.

Forbes Magazine also ranked Tepper's M.B.A. program as one of the best in the nation. It ranked 16^th for full time business schools and eighth for part-time M.B.A. programs. Forbes makes its rankings based on a formula which calculates the return of investment for former students.

To find out more on how these rankings are found or to find more rankings visit www.usnews.com and/or www.forbes.com.

 talkback to the pulse