SAN DIEGO - UC San Diego medical and engineering graduate programs were rated among the nation's best in the annual rankings by U.S. News and World Report, the university announced Thursday.

UCSD's School of Medicine ranked seventh for primary care among 123 medical schools and 14th among research-focused medical schools, while its Jacobs School of Engineering ranked 11th among 179 engineering schools in the magazine's 2006 America's Best Graduate Schools.

According to UCSD, both its engineering and medical schools ranked sixth among public universities in their respective professional school categories, and second in research expenditures per faculty member.

All five of the engineering school's academic departments had graduate programs ranked in the top 20.

The school's bioengineering department ranked second for biomedical and bioengineering programs, while its computer engineering, electrical, electronic and communications and civil engineering programs ranked 16th.

The mechanical engineering program ranked 18th and the aerospace engineering program came in 20th.

In the medical specialties rankings, UCSD's AIDS program came in seventh, the drug and alcohol abuse program was 11th and internal medicine 18th best in the country.

In other school rankings:

• The university's political science doctoral programs came in seventh overall and third among public schools.

• Economics doctoral programs ranked second among public universities and 10th overall.

• The school's program in behavioral neoroscience came in second, cognitive psychology third, experimental psychology and sociology of culture sixth, and psychology 16th.

• In the humanities, UCSD's Latin program ranked seventh and Asian history ranked 10th.

The professional school rankings were based on surveys of peers, outside professionals and criteria such as research activity and student selectivity, according to the university. Rankings of the social sciences and humanities were based on peer assessment surveys sent to academics in each discipline.

The rankings will appear in the April 11 edition of the magazine, and online at www.usnews.com beginning tomorrow.