U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools” ranked DU’s Sturm College of Law as the 70th best in the country, up 25 places from last years ranking at 95th in the country.

This ranking is the highest in the school’s history, and brings DU’s goal of being one of the top 50 graduate schools in the nation that much closer.

“Graduate study has been an important part of the University of Denver for more than a century,” vice provost for graduate studies and research James Moran said.

More than 60 percent of DU students are in graduate programs, and graduate students continue to be an important part of the campus community, said Moran.

According to the ranking, 87.3 percent of 2004 DU law graduates were employed at graduation, and within nine months of graduation, 96.9 percent had jobs.

Additionally, DU jumped five places to rank 85th in the nation’s undergraduate doctoral programs in U.S. News’ “America’s Best Colleges.”

National doctoral programs considered in the ranking include all leading private and public schools across the country, many enrolling as many as 30,000 students. One of DU’s strong points is the “percent of classes under 20,” which make up 59 percent of the total.

“The rankings recognize that DU is a school on the rise,” said Tom Willoughby, vice chancellor for enrollment.

“The University of Denver is a place where great things are happening — a place where significant investments have been made to enhance the overall quality of the learning experience each student has here,” Willoughby said.