School pride will be swelling among University of California, Davis, students as they start fall classes Wednesday (Sept. 24).

The campus tied for No. 9 among the nation’s top public universities and earned accolades for innovation, social mobility and more in the 2026 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, published Monday (Sept. 22).

This is the fifth consecutive year the campus has been ranked among the media outlet’s top 10 public universities.

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

“This ranking from U.S. News & World Report highlights our steadfast commitment to the success of our students,” said Chancellor Gary S. May. “UC Davis empowers students from all backgrounds with world-class educational opportunities that prepare them for rewarding careers and service to their communities.”

In the U.S. News 2026 Best Colleges rankings, UC Davis tied for No. 32 among all of the 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 tied for 18th among public universities and for 22nd among all 433 national universities ranked as top performers in social mobility, or how well schools enrolled and graduated students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

In a new U.S. News ranking of the most innovative schools, UC Davis tied for 21st among public universities and 42nd among all national universities. U.S. News asked academic leaders to nominate up to 15 colleges or universities making the most innovative improvements related to curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities. 

Among other highlights, the campus tied for No. 16 among the best national universities for veterans.

Academic subjects

In rankings for academic programs, UC Davis tied for No. 2 in biological/agricultural engineering and had seven other programs among the top 35 in their field:

• Undergraduate psychology, tied for 11th among 682 programs
• Civil engineering, tied for 18th
• Environmental / environmental health engineering, 19th
• Undergraduate economics, tied for 21st among 254 programs
• Undergraduate engineering, tied for 32nd among 211 programs with doctoral degrees in the subject
• Undergraduate computer science, tied for 35th among 601 programs

Academic program rankings were based on peer assessment surveys conducted in the spring and summer. Not all academic subjects are ranked every year, and not all rankings are published online or available without a special subscription.

Criteria and weighting

Seven of 17 ranking measurements for national universities related to student outcomes — including retention and graduation rates, federal loan debt and earnings five years after graduation — are accounted for 52% of the overall score. 

Other factors were:

• Assessments of quality by college leaders, 20%
• Faculty resources, including student-faculty ratio, 11%
• Per-student spending on academic programs and services, 8%
• Standardized test scores for the incoming class (re-assigned to graduation rates for test-optional or test-blind schools), 5%
• Faculty research, including academic citations and publication in top journals, 4% 

Other recent rankings

In other major rankings released in August, Forbes named UC Davis to its Top 25 Public Colleges in the nation. The campus placed 12th among public universities and 23rd among America’s Best Colleges for Research in the Washington Monthly 2025 College Guide and Rankings. Princeton Review’s The Best 391 Colleges: 2026 Edition also ranked UC Davis for making an impact, career placement and value for the money.

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.