Duke seventh in the world on its list of 'power factories' in 2012. Duke was ranked 17th on Thomson Reuters' list of the world's most innovative universities in 2015. The ranking graded universities based on patent volume and research output among other factors. In 2015, NPR ranked Duke first on its list of "schools that make financial sense". In 2016, Forbes ranked Duke sixth on its list of "Expensive Schools Worth Every Penny".
==== Graduate school rankings ====
Duke has been named one of the top universities for graduate outcomes several years in a row, having tied with Harvard University and Yale University. In U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools 2023–2024", Duke's medical school ranked 5th in research. The School of Law was also ranked 5th in those same rankings, with Duke's nursing school ranked 2nd while the Sanford School of Public Policy ranked fifth in Public Policy Analysis for 2019. Among business schools in the United States, the Fuqua School of Business is ranked tied …
