Ranking of doctoral programs of health education

This study ranked doctoral programs of health education based on the productivity of the faculty and the scholarly activity of doctoral students. The methodology, unique to ranking studies, uses a multiple set of variables weighted by scholars and leaders in the field of health education. Variables were articles published, citations received, journal editorships, external funding for research, student activity, student/faculty ratio, mentoring and placement, and student support. An overall ranking is provided as well as the ranking for each of the eight individual variables. Twenty-eight of the 44 doctoral programs of health education participated in this study (a response rate of 64%). Twenty-six programs had at least one variable ranked in the top 10 programs, and all programs had at least two variables ranked in the top 20. Correlation analysis of the eight variables provided additional insights. Interestingly, the four variables related to the faculty were not related to the four student variables. Implications of the ranking for administrators, faculty, students, and the health education profession are provided.