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UC Davis first in the world in veterinary medicine
1st nationally in agriculture
UC Davis is 1st in the nation for diversity and internationalization
2nd nationally among Affordable Elite Colleges
UC Davis is ranked 5th among public universities in the United States
9th among U.S. institutions granting undergraduate degrees to students of color

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

Animal behavior

Biological sciences

 

  • Biological sciences
  • Biology and biochemistry
    • 37th (U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Global Universities”)
  • Ecology/evolutionary biology
    • 2nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “2019 Best Global Universities” )
  • Molecular biology and genetics
    • 51st (U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Global Universities”)

Business and economics

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)
  • Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical 
    • 22nd (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
  • Biological/agricultural engineering
    • 3rd in biological/agricultural engineering (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
  • Biomedical/bioengineering
    • 24th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
  • Chemical engineering
    • 31st (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
  • Civil engineering
  • Computer engineering
    • 36th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
  • 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”)
  • Electrical
    • 39th tied in electrical/electronic/communications (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021
  • Environmental engineering
  • Materials engineering
    • 31st (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2021)
  • 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

  • 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

Plant science

Political science

  • 17th (U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Graduate Schools” 2018)
  • 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)
  • 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

Two goats nibbling at a veterinarian in scrubs

About Some Important Rankings

QS World University Rankings

In 2020, QS World University Rankings ranked UC Davis 104th among 1,001 of the world’s elite institutions. Among U.S. universities, UC Davis is 28th overall and 7th among public universities. We're also tied at 1st in the nation for diversity and internationalization. 

Besides being first in veterinary science and second in agriculture and forestry, subject rankings included environmental sciences, 16th; biological sciences, 42nd; and earth and marine sciences, 41st. 

U.S. News and World Report National and Global Rankings

In its 2020 rankings of the nation's best colleges, U.S. News and World Report placed UC Davis 11th among public national universities and 39th among all national universities. In addition, UC Davis ranked:

  • 9th in top performers on social mobility. 
  • 29th in the nation among undergraduate engineering programs whose highest degree is a doctorate.
  • 34th in undergraduate research/creative projects.

Learn about the methodology used to calculate the rankings.

U.S. News and World Report also issues an annual ranking of the best global universities, which uses a different methodology. In 2020, UC Davis ranked 64th in the world.

Times Higher Education College Ranking

The Times Higher Education placed UC Davis 5th among public universities in the U.S., 38th among all U.S. colleges (2021). Our university ranked 64th out of all of the universities in the world in the World University Rankings 2021. 

The ranking took into consideration data from several sources and a survey of 200,000 students.

THE’s 2019 Reputation Rank placed UC Davis 48th among universities around the world. THE employs the “world’s largest invitation-only academic opinion survey to produce its Top 100 most powerful global university brands, based on the judgment of senior academics.”

Washington Monthly Affordable Elite Colleges

Washington Monthly magazine ranked UC Davis second nationally among Affordable Elite Colleges in 2019. The campus also ranked No. 11 among public and private universities in the national university rankings, came in third among public universities, and was the third-ranked university in California.

Forbes Top 25 Public Colleges

In 2019, Forbes Magazine ranked UC Davis 88th among U.S. universities, and 22nd among the nation's public colleges for the best education for $30,000 or less. 

More than 5 million students attend the public colleges that make America's Top Colleges List. The average in-state cost of attendance for the public colleges on the America’s Top Colleges list is nearly $30,000 a year less than private colleges on the list: $25,759 compared to $57,128.

Money Magazine Best Colleges Ranking

In 2019, Money Magazine placed UC Davis fourth among public universities nationally, and fifth overall, among the 744 schools the magazine examines. The publication uses 26 factors in determining its ranking among three categories: quality of education, affordability and outcomes.

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