Correction, Oct. 10: The news release has been corrected to indicate that UC Davis is 10th among public universities in the United States.

The University of California, Davis, is No. 10 among the nation’s top public universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, published today (Oct. 8).

It was one of four UC campuses ranked in the top 10 public universities in the nation.

UC Davis was 25th among more than 1,500 public and private American universities and 64th among nearly 2,200 universities from 115 countries and territories. 

The rankings evaluate research-intensive universities on 18 performance indicators in five areas: 

• teaching, a measure of the learning experience and quality (29.5%)
• research environment or the quality and quantity of research output based on reputation, research income and productivity (29%)
• research quality or influence (30%)
• industry or how much the university earns from its inventions and industrial work (4%)
• and international outlook, based on the international-to-domestic ratios across staff, students and research collaborations (7.5%)

The new ranking reflects how 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.

In other major rankings:

• UC Davis stands second in the nation among public universities and 13th among all universities for how well it sets its graduates up for financial success in The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2026 rankings released Sept. 29.
• 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 Sept. 23.
• 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, published in August.

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.