U of A space science ranks No. 1 among public universities in latest US News global ranking
The University of Arizona is one of the world’s best public research institutions and the No. 1 public U.S. university in space science, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The U of A ranked No. 20 among public U.S. universities and No. 40 among all U.S. universities in the 2026-2027 Best Global Universities ranking, released Tuesday. The U of A rose 13 spots to No. 102 out of 2,250 higher education institutions across more than 100 countries.
The global ranking places the U of A among the top 5% of all qualified universities throughout the world.
The U of A again earned its best subject ranking in the space science category, climbing one spot to No. 3 globally, in addition to its No. 1 placement among U.S. public universities. The university earned top marks in this category for its research reputation, along with the number of citations and publications by U of A researchers.
“Rankings are more than numbers, they’re a reflection of the strength of our faculty,” said U of A president Suresh Garimella. “We’re proud this latest ranking reflects our research strength on a global scale. We bring together experts across many disciplines, and it is through their work making new discoveries, advancing new technologies, and finding new solutions to global challenges that the U of A acts as a force for good around the world.”
The U of A also ranked among the world’s top universities in water resources (No. 3 in the U.S.) and geosciences (No. 13 in the U.S.).
U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities ranks colleges and universities in 51 subjects. The University of Arizona earned a spot on 33 of the subject ranking lists, with top 50 marks in the U.S. in the following categories:
- Meteorology and atmospheric sciences (No. 15)
- Ecology (No. 21)
- Plant and animal science (No. 22)
- Optics (No. 22)
- Environment ecology (No. 23)
- Pharmacology and toxicology (No. 30)
- Agricultural sciences (No. 30)
- Microbiology (No. 31)
- Arts and humanities (No. 37)
- Physics (No. 41)
- Public, environmental and occupational health (No. 41)
- Clinical medicine (No. 46)
- Oncology (No. 46)
- Psychiatry and psychology (No. 48)
- Cardiac and cardiovascular systems (No. 49)
- Engineering (No. 50)
The university’s overall research reputation was ranked No. 46 in the U.S. and No. 97 globally.
The 12th annual Best Global Universities rankings provide insight into how research institutions compare throughout the world. To produce the global rankings, which are based on data and metrics provided by the analytics company Clarivate, U.S. News & World Report uses a methodology that focuses on a university’s global and regional reputation and academic research performance using indicators such as citations and publications.
U.S. News uses a separate methodology for the subject-specific rankings that is based on academic research performance in each subject. U.S. News uses various measures, including publications and citations as well as indicators for global and regional reputation in each specific subject area.