UC Berkeley has been named the top public university in the United States and ranks sixth globally, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. The rankings assess universities worldwide based on various indicators of academic research performance and reputation.

The global rankings are led by Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Stanford University, followed by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UC Berkeley is positioned just above University College London, as well as American institutions such as the University of Washington, Yale University, and Columbia University.

In addition to UC Berkeley's top public university status, other leading public institutions in the U.S. include the University of Washington at eighth place overall, UCLA at 13th, and UCSF at 16th.

The 2025-2026 best global universities rankings evaluated over 2,250 institutions from around the world using 13 different metrics related to academic research performance and reputation. UC Berkeley achieved a global score of 86.4 out of 100. It was ranked sixth for its global research standing and third for its regional research reputation.

The evaluation criteria for these rankings include publications, books, conferences, cited papers, and international collaboration among others. In subject-specific ratings across 34 areas, UC Berkeley ranked second in space science; fourth in biology and biochemistry as well as physics; sixth in environment/ecology; and seventh in mathematics and ecology.

These global university rankings differ from U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of American colleges and universities released each September.

"Times Higher Ed ranks UC Berkeley No.1 public university in U.S."

"‘U.S. News’ ranks UC Berkeley No. 2 public school in the country"