U.S. News has chosen to delay its popular "Best Medical School" rankings list for 2024, along with its "Best Engineering Schools" ranking.
The outlet does not know when the list might be available to the public, according to an April 8 notice posted to its website.
U.S. News made the decision to delay the rankings following "queries from some graduate schools, including whether and to what extent affiliated institutions were considered in the bibliometric data used … and which accrediting body was used as a source of reference for the 2024 Best Clinical Psychology Programs rankings," according to the notice.
"We take our role as a journalism enterprise very seriously and we will not publish information without full confidence in what we publish," it continued.
U.S. News proceeded with the publication of all other graduate school rankings — across 82 professional fields — on April 9.
The delay, which also occurred last year, follows controversy surrounding U.S. News' ranking process.
In 2023, major law schools withdrew from the process, and medical schools began to do the same, led by Boston-based Harvard Medical School.
Over a one-month period, more than a dozen medical schools had joined the exodus, citing certain ranking measures — such as peer assessments from deans, admissions directors and academics and test scores — that give an edge to well-resourced schools as reasons for their departures. The outlet subsequently delayed the rankings.