UC Davis Named To List of Top 10 Public Universities in US

The University of California, Davis, retained its spot as the No. 10 public university in the nation in rankings published this week by Times Higher Education. 

The honor follows recent recognition of UC Davis as the most sustainable university in North America according to UI GreenMetric, and one of the 10 best public universities in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. Also, Global Research Partnerships gave UC Davis a platinum designation in its inaugural Research Collaboration Index, ranking the university No. 92 among 1,195 global research universities for collaborating with other institutions. 

Four UC campuses made the Times Higher Education top 10, and UC Davis was ranked 65th overall in the world among all 2,297 institutions that were considered.

In subject-specific rankings by Times Higher Education earlier this year, UC Davis was named the No. 4 public university in the nation for life sciences (26th overall).

The overall Times Higher Education ranking is based on the following metrics:

• Teaching, or the learning environment: 29.5%
• Research environment, or research reputation, income and productivity: 29%
• Research quality, or how often an institution’s work is cited, along with research strength, excellence and influence: 30%
• International outlook, or how many students and staff come from abroad, along with a look at how much research is done with global collaborators: 7.5%
• Industry, or the income an institution earns from industry and the number of patents from any source that cite its research: 4%

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.