The UA's College of Education moved up 11 notches when U.S. News and World Report released its rankings of the nation's top graduate schools.

According to Monday's report, the College of Education placed 24th in the nation, after last year's 35th ranking of education schools.

"I was really pleased that that happened," said John Taylor, College of Education dean. "We were ranked higher than ASU."

Arizona State came in four spots behind the UA at 28th, which proves that both schools are providing quality teachers for Arizona's school systems, Taylor said.

"I am happy for ASU," he said. "We need to support each other, root for each other. We are providing the people of Arizona with a quality education."

Last month, Republican Gov. Fife Symington signed a bill that says teachers are no longer required to obtain master's degrees once they enter the teaching profession. Previously, teachers had eight years to complete their master's work.

Taylor said the bill will not have an effect on graduate schools of education because school systems can still require their educators to obtain a master's degree. He said teachers will also continue to acquire knowledge within their fields, and one way of doing that is by obtaining a master's degree.

Members of peer institutions ranked the UA 20th, he said, and when the nation's top private schools are removed from the listing, the College of Education ranks 17th among public institutions.

Other areas that ranked UA programs:

• The Geology Ph.D. program was listed in a seven-way tie for ninth;
• The Engineering Graduate School tied for 40th;
• The Karl Eller Graduate School of Management was listed as 45th top business graduate school;
• The UA School of Law was listed at 50th.