High Achievements and Top Programs
UC Davis is highly ranked in the nation and the world, according to influential university ranking publications like U.S. News & World Report (national and global), QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and The Princeton Review.
The Wall Street Journal recognized UC Davis as the fifth-best public university in the United States in its 2021 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings.
Washington Monthly magazine ranked UC Davis second nationally among Affordable Elite Colleges in 2019.
Interested in rankings by graduate program? Browse the list below.
Graduate academic program rankings
Agriculture
- 2nd in agriculture and forestry (QS World University Rankings 2020)
- 3rd in agriculture (U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Global Universities”)
Animal behavior
- 2nd in animal science (U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Global Universities”)
Biological sciences
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Biological sciences
- 18th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate” 2019)
- 42nd (QS World University Rankings 2020)
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Biology and biochemistry
- 37th (U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Global Universities”)
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Ecology/evolutionary biology
- 2nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “2019 Best Global Universities” )
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Molecular biology and genetics
- 51st (U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Global Universities”)
Business and economics
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Economics
- 29th (U.S. News & World Report’s "America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
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Graduate School of Management
- 31st among public part-time MBA programs in U.S. (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
- 48th among full-time MBA programs in U.S. (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
Chemistry
- Chemistry
- 32nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2019)
Composition
- Among the top 50 universities for writing across the disciplines (U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 “America’s Best Colleges”)
Earth sciences
- 24th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2019)
- 41st in earth and marine sciences (QS World University Rankings 2020)
Education
- 39th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
Engineering
- 33rd best College of Engineering (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
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Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical
- 22nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
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Biological/agricultural engineering
- 3rd in biological/agricultural engineering (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
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Biomedical/bioengineering
- 24th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
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Chemical engineering
- 31st (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
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Civil engineering
- 12th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
- 23rd worldwide (2019 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, Shanghai Rankings)
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Computer engineering
- 36th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
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Computer science
- 37th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2019)
- 48th (U.S. News & World Reports “2015 Best Global Universities”)
- 37th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2019)
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Electrical
- 39th tied in electrical/electronic/communications (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021
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Environmental engineering
- 9th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
- 4th worldwide (2019 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, ShanghaiRankings)
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Materials engineering
- 31st (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
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Mechanical engineering
- 34th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
English
- 20th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
Environmental sciences
- 17th in environment/ecology (U.S. News & World Report’s “2021 Best Global Universities”)
- 16th (QS World University Rankings 2020)
Fine arts
- 15th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
History
- 32nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
- 9th in U.S. colonial history
Law
- 38th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
Mathematics
- 34th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2019)
Medicine
- 7th in primary care (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
- 9th in family medicine (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
- 26th in the nation for research funding from the National Institutes of Health (Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research 2018)
- 40th in research (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
Nursing
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Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing
- 40th among master's degree nursing leadership programs (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
Physics
- 28th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2019)
- 45th in space science (U.S. News & World Report’s “2021 Best Global Universities”)
Plant science
- 2nd in plant science (U.S. News & World Report’s “2021 Best Global Universities”)
Political science
- 17th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
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Political methodology
- 17th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
Psychology
- 26th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
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Psychiatry/psychology
- 40th (U.S. News & World Report’s “2018 Best Global Universities”)
Sociology
- 30th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
Statistics
- 31st (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2019)
Veterinary medicine
- 1st for veterinary science (QS World University Rankings 2020)
- 1st among the nation’s veterinary schools (U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” 2020)