The Vanderbilt University Medical Center has grown to be an important part of the University and is distinguished in medical education, research, and patient care. In 2003, the Medical Center was placed on the Honor Roll of U.S. News and World Report annual rating of the nation's best hosptials, solidifying Vanderbilt's reputation as a peer of universities like Duke and Stanford. Additionally, the U.S News ranked the university's school of medicine 15th in the nation among research-oriented medical schools in its annual ratings of best American educational institutions.

The University itself has also received high marks from the U.S. News. Vanderbilt currently ranks 18th in the nation among national research universities in the U.S. News college rankings. In the U.S. News graduate program rankings, the Vanderbilt Law School ranks 17th, Vanderbilt's Peabody College ranks 4th among schools of education, and Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management ranks 39th among business schools. (Though it has been argued that Vanderbilt's ranking is hindered by its relatively small size. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal recently rank Owen 2nd among "smaller" business schools.)

Additionally, Vanderbilt is ranked first in the nation in the fields of Special Education and Audiology.

Unusual research

As with any large research institution, Vanderbilt investigators work in a broad range of disciplines. However, among its more unusual activities, the university has institutes devoted to the study of coffee and of bridge (the game, invented by a great-grandson of the Commodore). In addition, in mid-2004 it was announced that Vanderbilt's chemical biology research  may have serendipitously opened the door to the breeding of a blue rose, something that had long been coveted by horticulturalists and rose lovers.