Best Graduate Schools 2016: Top-Ranked Colleges For Law, Business And Medicine

U.S. News and World Report released its annual rankings Tuesday of the best graduate programs at colleges and universities across the country, breaking down the lists according to disciplines, including business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing. The rankings didn't see too much change from last year's, as Ivy League schools again dominated the lists, with Harvard University near the top on four of the six.

Yale University was named No. 1 for law, and the University of Pennsylvania came in first for nursing. However, this year U.S. News was able to parcel out the top three business programs. This year, Stanford, Harvard and Penn came in first, second and third place, respectively. (Last year they had all tied for the No. 1 spot.)

Tuition went up across the board, with the cost of law school increasing the most at 179 percent. Enrollment went up in business, medical and engineering programs but fell in law and education programs. Both private and public programs saw their numbers drop.

But still, "nearly half of college students see value in pursuing graduate degrees," U.S. News editor Brian Kelly said in the release. The rankings, based on metrics like employment outcomes for graduates and standardized test scores, aim to help students figure out which programs will give them the best return on investment.

Here are the top five programs in each category. See the full lists here.

Best business schools:

1. Stanford University

2. Harvard University

3. University of Pennsylvania

4. University of Chicago

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Best education schools:

1. Johns Hopkins University

2. Harvard University

3. Stanford University and Vanderbilt University (tie)

5. University of Wisconsin, Madison

Best engineering schools:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2. Stanford University

3. University of California, Berkeley

4. Carnegie Mellon University

5. California Institute of Technology

Best law schools:

1. Yale University

2. Harvard University and Stanford University (tie)

4. Columbia University and University of Chicago (tie)

Best medical research schools:

1. Harvard University

2. Stanford University

3. Johns Hopkins University and University of California, San Francisco (tie)

5. University of Pennsylvania

Best nursing schools:

1. University of Pennsylvania

2. Johns Hopkins University and University of California, San Francisco (tie)

4. University of Washington

5. University of Pittsburgh