UPDATE 3/12/ 2014: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the Paul M. Hebert Law Center was ranked 77 in the latest rankings. The Law Center was actually ranked 72. 
While some University graduate degree programs gained ground in national rankings, they remain middle-of-the-road overall among their Southeastern Conference peers.
U.S. News and World Report released its 2015 rankings of graduate schools Tuesday. The magazine grades schools offering graduate degrees in law, education, business and other disciplines based on criteria like quality of education, selectivity, graduate success and faculty resources.
University graduate programs remained in similar positions nationally compared to last year’s rankings, with some gaining a few places and others falling.
The Paul M. Hebert Law Center rose four places from last year to No. 72 among 194 law degree-granting institutions nationwide in the U.S. News rankings. The ranking is the highest the Law Center has ever achieved.
Meanwhile, the University’s Flores MBA Program offered by the E.J. Ourso College of Business dropped four places to No. 65 after making a 20-place jump in last year’s rankings.
In a statement, Flores MBA Program director Edward Watson attributed the drop in standings to losing the “splash factor” from the opening of the new Business Education Complex, which he said originally led to the school’s higher ranking.
In the same statement, Watson compared the competitive environment between graduate schools to that between SEC football teams, saying the competition can be “determined by inches.”
Compared to other SEC schools, however, University graduate programs fail to stand out.
No University graduate school ranks higher than sixth in SEC schools, with the engineering college holding that position despite being ranked No. 94 nationally.
The Flores MBA Program and Law Center both rank seventh among SEC schools, and both tied in score with the University of Tennessee’s equivalent programs. The University’s education graduate program ranked ninth in the SEC, tied with the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.