<p>
Although USNWR shows NU to be a bit stronger than Duke in Math (#16 vs. #24), the newly released NRC Rankings show Duke to be far better than NU in the field of Mathematics. I personally believe that the UNSWR Graduate Edition is flawed since its only based on Peer Assessment and doesn’t really employ a rigorous method of evaluating doctoral programs which would include incoming GRE scores of PhD candidates, qualifications of faculty, time to completion of degree, job/academia placement, etc.</p>
<p>[NRC</a> Rankings Overview: Mathematics - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124743/]NRC”>http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124743/)</p>
<p>R-Ranking
Duke: 14-47
Northwestern: 29-57</p>
<p>S-Ranking
Duke: 13-38
Northwestern: 39-74</p>
<p>I agree that NU has a better Economics department but according to the National Research Council, the difference is pretty small.</p>