UCSD has been ranked the 18th best university in the world and the third best University of California school in a new global ranking released by U.S. News & World Report.
UCSD was one of only five public US schools ranked in the top 20 schools. UC Berkeley and UCLA were ranked third and eighth, respectively.
The report measured a total of 10 weighted factors that contributed to a school’s overall score. Some factors included global and regional research reputation, the number of highly-cited papers, the quality of international collaboration and the number of persons receiving a doctorate from that school.
The data collected for the study were based on survey-like responses from participants. According to the U.S. News & World Report website, the main objective was “to create a comprehensive snapshot of academics’ opinions about world universities [and] ha[ve] respondents give their views of the disciplinary programs with which they were familiar.”
UCSD scored highly in multiple categories in the national arena and was ranked first in behavioral neuroscience, third in bioengineering, fourth in econometrics, seventh in the biomedical field for schools offering doctorates and eighth for Top Public Universities.
This high standing is consistent with other ranked reports as well. The Academic Ranking of World Universities placed UCSD as the 14th best university in the world earlier this year, and the Center for World University Rankings named the university 20th best.
“UC San Diego is home to many of the world’s top scholars who are at the forefront of their fields and who are conducting research that is transforming lives,” UCSD Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla said in a statement. “We are very proud of this new ranking that recognizes the strength and talent of our campus members and the impact of our work.”
The 2014 release of the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities Ranking Report is the first for the magazine, and the effect of ranking a school higher in this particular report is difficult to predict. However, new student enrollments have increased 51 percent in the past decade overall. Sixty-six percent of these enrolled students are freshmen, and 34 percent are transfer students.
