The University of California, Davis, is No. 9 among the nation’s top public universities in rankings published today (Sept. 23) by U.S. News & World Report.

It is the fourth consecutive year the campus has been ranked among the media company’s top 10 public universities; for the past 10 years, it has been among the top 12.

UC Davis continues to score high in the most prestigious college rankings for its quality of education, impact of its research and the social mobility it offers students. 

“This ranking from U.S. News and World Report reflects our bedrock commitment to student success,” said Chancellor Gary S. May. UC Davis empowers students from every background with world-class educational opportunities, preparing them for careers and service to their communities.”

In the U.S. News 2025 Best Colleges rankings, UC Davis was tied for No. 33 among more than 430 national universities, which offer a full range of undergraduate degrees as well as master’s and doctoral degrees and place a strong emphasis on research.

The campus was also tied for 26th spot among national universities for social mobility, or how well schools graduated economically disadvantaged students.

Among other highlights, UC Davis was tied for No. 16 among the best national universities for veterans.

In rankings for academic programs, UC Davis was tied for No. 1 in biological/agricultural engineering and had seven other programs among the top 30 in their field.

Academic subjects

Academic program rankings were based on peer assessment surveys conducted in the spring and summer. The rankings looked at several academic programs. In addition to the top ranking for biological/agricultural engineering, other programs in the top tier included:

• civil engineering, 13th 
• undergraduate psychology, tied for 14th among 681 programs
• environmental / environmental health, tied for 16th
• undergraduate economics, tied for 22nd among 318 programs
• biomedical engineering, tied for 28th
• undergraduate computer science, tied for 29th among 584 programs 
• undergraduate engineering, tied for 30th among 209 programs at universities with doctoral degrees in the subject

Not all academic subjects are ranked every year, and not all rankings are published online or available without a special subscription.

Criteria and weighting

Among 17 factors, four measurements related to graduation rates for first-time students weighed most heavily in the overall rankings of national universities. A total of 37% of the ranking related to graduation rates overall and for Pell grant recipients as well as their performance against what U.S News predicted for a school’s fall 2014 through 2017 entering classes based on the school’s characteristics. 

Peer assessment of academic quality counted for 20%. This is a two-year rolling average of ratings on academic quality by presidents, provosts and deans of admissions at institutions. The survey response rate among national universities was 41%.

Rankings related to faculty totaled 15% and included salaries (6%), four measurements for research publication and citations per publication from 2019 to 2023 (4%), the student-faculty ratio (3%) and the proportion of full-time faculty (2%).

Other factors included financial resources per student (8%), standardized test scores (5%), first-year retention rates (5%), borrower debt (5%) and the proportion of federal loan recipients who in 2019-20 and five years after graduation were earning more than the median wages of high school graduates aged 25 to 34 (5%). 

Other rankings

In other major rankings released since late August:

• The WSJ/College Pulse rankings named UC Davis third in the nation among public universities and 12th among all universities for how well it sets graduates up for financial success. 
• In the Washington Monthly 2024 College Rankings, UC Davis took the No. 11 spot among public universities.
• The campus was seventh in the Top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact in Princeton Review’s The Best 390 Colleges — 2025 edition.

UC Davis and rankings

A world-class university, UC Davis is highly ranked for how it transforms students’ lives, the impact of its research, the excellence of its academic programs, sustainability and more. The university performs self-evaluations and also appreciates the value of third-party assessments. However, ranking methods vary, change over time and can be subjective. UC Davis focuses on those rankings that most closely align with its mission and values — including serving the public good, inclusiveness and equity, and social mobility — and in national rankings looks most closely at its standing among public universities. UC Davis encourages prospective students and their families to weigh rankings among other factors in their college decision, talk with counselors and UC Davis admissions advisors, and, if possible, visit the campus.