The University’s Department of Psychology ranked number 10 among 10 other universities for the most prestigious program in industrial-organizational psychology. Organizational Psychology Degrees, a website that provides information about organizational psychology degree programs, ranked several university programs across the nation.

However, one professor said he believes the criteria for the ranking is not credible.

Although the ranking can promote the University’s department, Fritz Drasgow , professor in LAS, said the qualifications are unreliable. Drasgow said with truly elite doctoral programs, students are supported through teaching and research assistantships or fellowships, which allows doctoral students to not pay tuition.

“So they’re including as one of their key criteria something that’s actually irrelevant,” Drasgow claims.

Drasgow said other criteria, such as graduation rates and where students get jobs in that field, could have been put into consideration when creating the rank list.

The psychology department in I-O psychology at the University has four faculty members and about 13 doctoral students who are part of the program.

The organization used information from the National Center for Education Statistics College Navigator and focused on institutions that offered a doctoral degree in I-O psychology.

According to the website, the organization narrowed the “focus to programs offering a well-rounded curriculum based on the scientist-practitioner approach, which prepares graduates for a variety of different career settings.”

When ranking the institutions, they used the average graduate tuition rates and student-to-faculty ratio.

Tara Karleen, assistant marketing director for organizational psychology degrees, said including the tuition rate as part of the criteria was relevant when ranking each institution.

Institutions don’t receive a monetary reward based on the rank they are placed in, but Karleen said she hopes this will help promote the University department.

“We feel that if the University uses this article as a tool to promote their program, it is beneficial to the program and to the University (as a recruitment tool),” Karleen said in an email.

Although the University was ranked in the top 10, Drasgow believes this will not have a big effect on the department.

“Any student who is considering doctoral education would look at the basis of these rankings and say, ‘Well, I want to have an assistantship. I’ve already paid four years of tuition as an undergrad. I don’t think I can afford five more years as a doctoral student,’” Drasgow said.

[email protected]