Annual rankings are out for the U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges Report, and UC Merced made historic rankings for some of its programs.
The U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings compared more than 1,700 colleges and universities on 17 measures of academic quality.
UC Merced remained in the top five ranking for social mobility nationally, placing No. 4, which was down one slot from last year. The university’s engineering program reached No. 118 for the first time in campus history. UC Merced was also named as one of the best colleges for veterans, at No. 40, for the first time.
Out of California universities, UC Merced ranked No. 7 for top public schools for the second year in a row.
“These rankings speak to the breadth of what we offer our students at UC Merced, from the highest-quality education and meaningful academic opportunities to the support and resources that help students succeed,” Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said. “Taken together, the rankings point to a university increasingly recognized not only for the quality of its academic programs and faculty, but for the difference it makes in the lives of its students.”
Of the University of California system, UC Merced ranked above UC Riverside and UC Santa Cruz for national rankings and public school rankings.
National university rankings measure schools that offer undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. UC Merced placed No. 69 in national university rankings, above both UC Riverside (No. 89) and UC Santa Cruz (No. 109), but below UC Irvine, which ranked No. 34 nationally. UC Berkeley and UCLA tied for No. 1 in top public schools and No. 20 in national universities.
Other Valley rankings
Other colleges in the San Joaquin Valley ranked among top contenders nationally.
Stanislaus State placed No. 6 for top regional public schools and No. 12 for regional universities in the west.
Fresno State placed No. 110 for top national public schools, No. 44 among schools for best undergraduate engineering programs (with no doctoral program offered) and No. 208 for national universities.
California State University Bakersfield placed No. 15 in top regional public schools, No. 55 among schools for best undergraduate engineering programs (with no doctoral program offered) and No. 25 in regional universities in the west.
“U.S. News & World Report is considered the gold standard of college rankings, and so it is a tremendous source of pride for Kern County that CSUB continues our rise on this elite list,” said President Vernon B. Harper Jr. in a news release.
University of the Pacific in Stockton placed No. 121 among best universities nationally and No. 43 for Best Value.
