The University of Colorado Department of Physics has been ranked as the number one school in the nation for atomic, molecular and optical physics, according to U.S. News and World Report's graduate school report. This ties CU Boulder's AMO program with that of MIT for the best graduate school program in the nation. Quantum physics was ranked as fifth, according to the report.
Overall, the Department of Physics is 19th out of 145 ranked schools.
According to their Web site, U.S. News ranks graduate programs in the sciences according to the results of surveys sent to academics in various scientific fields. Those surveyed were ask to rate the quality of graduate programs of their peers.