UMass-Amherst was ranked in four of the eight general categories used to rank top graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report, according to the University's Web site. In Health Disciplines, UMass' nursing program was ranked 58th in the nation, and the school was ranked 44th in clinical psychology and 39th in speech language pathology. In Social Sciences and Humanities, the university ranked 66th in psychology, 60th in biological science and 25th in computer science. UMass also was listed as ranking 45th in education.

The ranking of school programs is based upon expert opinion about the quality of the program and statistical indicators that measure the quality of faculty research and students, according to the site. Rankings for the sciences, social sciences and humanities are determined by the ratings provided by academic experts. After ranking, the different categories are separated into subcategories.

The magazine has been ranking top graduate schools since 1987. The rankings are based on data such as student selectivity, faculty resources and research activity, according to the site. The magazine also considers reputation ratings from deans and faculty members in addition to those from people outside academia who are likely to come in contact with new graduates. The magazine ranks master's and doctoral programs by reputation based on surveys of the dean or top administrator and at least one other administrator or faculty member of the school.