By REBECCA NAGY

NC State University’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) continues to improve in national rankings. In the 2020 U.S. News and World Report rankings, BAE was ranked No. 4 among biological and agricultural engineering graduate programs.

This was an improvement from the previous year’s ranking of No. 8. The department’s undergraduate program is currently ranked No. 6.

“Three years ago, our program was ranked No. 10,” notes Department Head Garey Fox. “Such a tremendous improvement in our ranking has only been possible because of the outstanding faculty (both current and emeritus), staff, students, and alumni of this great department. Thank you also to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering upper administration for supporting this outstanding department.”

U.S. News has released the rankings to offer guidance to college-bound students and families since the first edition was published in 1983. In the case of graduate rankings, each school’s score reflects its average rating on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding), based on a survey of academics at peer institutions.