The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine rose four spots in this year's U.S. News & World Report rankings to No. 2 after it decided to no longer submit data.
The Medical School previously was tied for the No. 6 spot. It is now only behind Johns Hopkins University on the 2023-24 U.S. News Best Medicine School Rankings, surpassing the two schools that were ranked in the top spots last year — Harvard University and New York University. On Jan. 24, the Medical School decided to end participation in the rankings only three days before the deadline to submit data.
The school's decision came after concerns about the methodology used by U.S. News and other decisions to stop submitting data from top law and medical schools, such as Penn Carey Law and Harvard School of Medicine.
For medical schools that did not submit data, U.S. News used data from statistical surveys and public metrics from the National Institutes of Health as part of their new methodology, according to the website.
U.S. News stated that it was dedicated to providing prospective students with a holistic measure of student experience and opportunities that may arise through education, especially as costs to attend continue to rise.
The official changes to the methodology — which will be released in full on April 18 along with the law school rankings — includes an increased weight on faculty-to-student ratios, the addition of NIH grants to assess research quality, and a decrease in the weight of reputation surveys and MCAT and GPA scores. U.S. News also stated that it will continue to incorporate data collected in the previous two years.
Johns Hopkins University was the only school above the Medical School, followed by Harvard School of Medicine at No. 3. The New York University Grossman School of Medicine dropped from No. 2 to No. 13, despite submitting data and not ending participation.
Similar to its hopes for law school rankings, U.S. News said that it hopes to empower prospective medical students with the knowledge to ensure they choose the correct school, acknowledging that it is a “tough choice” to decide where to continue their education.
In the publicized memo to end participation sent in January, Dean of the Medical School and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System J. Larry Jameson emphasized the school's mission of innovation and impact to shape the future of medicine as the most important aspect in determining the school’s reputation.
“The USNWR measures encourage the acceptance of students based upon the highest grades and test scores,” Jameson wrote in the press release. “Yet, we strive to identify and attract students with a wide array of characteristics that predict promise. The careers of transformative physicians, scientists, and leaders reveal the importance of other personal qualities, including creativity, passion, resilience, and empathy.”
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