Three graduate programs at SIU ranked in the top 20 in the nation in the annual listing of America’s Best Graduate Schools published by U.S. News & World Report.

The rankings were released Feb. 20 and published in the magazine’s Feb. 23 issue.

SIUC’s rehabilitation counseling ranked first in Illinois and second in the nation behind the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The program is part of the College of Education and is under the umbrella of the University’s Rehabilitation Institute.

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The program prepares graduates to counsel the physically, mentally or socially disabled as they look to improve their lives.

This year marked the first year the magazine has ranked rehabilitation counseling programs.

Gary Austin, coordinator of the Rehabilitation Institute, said the ranking helped the institute gain national exposure and is a reflection of the entire program.

We’re very proud of that program and the students graduate with a high level of knowledge in their field, Austin said. This is a reflection of the entire Rehabilitation Institute.

Austin said the institute was ranked similarly in the past by the National Commission of Rehabilitation Education.

Donna Falvo, coordinator of the Rehabilitation Counselor Training Program, said the program needs to continue its progress and build resources to maybe someday reach No. 1.

We need to continue doing what we are doing, Falvo said. We need to maintain faculty in order to reach our highest potential.

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Falvo said there may be a problem in the near future with one of their five professors retiring at the end of the semester.

It is curable, she said. We’ll find someone to replace him.

The other programs that ranked were the School of Medicine’s primary care physician program, which finished 17th out of 87, and its family medicine program, which was ranked 16th.

This is the third year that the School of Medicine has made the magazine’s top 20 for training doctors who specialize in family practice, general internal medicine and general pediatrics.

The ratings are based on students’ grade-point averages, admissions scores, faculty, reputations, research activities and the number of graduates who practice primary care medicine.

The School of Medicine was the highest-ranked Illinois graduate institution on these lists.