The University of California, Davis, today (Aug. 13) has once again been honored by Money Magazine in its 2018 “Best Colleges” and “Most Transformative Colleges” annual rankings.

UC Davis is ranked eighth among public universities nationally, and 11th overall, among 727 schools across the U.S. the magazine examined for the annual list. Each school was ranked based on 26 factors in three categories: quality of education, affordability and outcomes. Factors such as estimated tuition costs, percentage of students receiving aid, median student debt, early career earnings and SAT/ACT scores are considered.

Also released today was Money’s most transformative colleges ranking, which looks at the social mobility factor of each college’s and university’s graduates. UC Davis is eighth, up from 10th place in the 2017 review.

“This recognition reinforces the outstanding caliber of the educational and research programs at UC Davis,” said Chancellor Gary S. May. “A UC Davis education opens up all kinds of opportunities for our students. Those opportunities are especially critical for our undergraduates, more than 45 percent of whom are the first in their families to attend or complete a four-year college degree.”

More information on this year’s rankings can be found online.

Earlier rankings

Earlier this summer, Quacquarelli Symonds, or QS, widely considered to be one of the most influential international rankings providers, placed UC Davis in the top 10 percent of universities globally in its QS World University Rankings. It further ranked UC Davis in the top 50 in numerous disciplines including first in veterinary science, second in agriculture and forestry, 13th in environmental sciences, 26th in anatomy and physiology, 29^th in biological sciences as well as earth and marine sciences (tie), and 31st in developmental studies.

Elsewhere UC Davis placed 47th in the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, and the Center for World University Rankings places the university 42nd globally and 28th nationally. U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Graduate School rankings featured several top 20 placements, including seventh for biological and agricultural engineering, and 10th for the School of Medicine’s primary care programs. They join previously ranked top-20 programs such as English and political science.

On Aug. 9, National Taiwan University released its annual global university ranking, placing UC Davis 51st overall among its peers worldwide. The NTU also ranked six fields and 14 individual subjects, giving top honors to the university’s Plant and Animal Science program. Agriculture (field) is second, the Agriculture Science program is third and Environment/Ecology is ranked fifth.