UCLA ranked second best U.S. public university, 12th overall in the world

OREANDA-NEWS. August 17, 2016. UCLA placed second among American public universities and 12th among all universities globally in a prominent international ranking.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities — compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and issued Aug. 15 — uses six criteria to measure excellence. Among them: number of alumni and faculty winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers listed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.

Besides UCLA, two University of California campuses placed in the top 20: Berkeley (third), the only U.S. public university ranked higher than UCLA; and San Diego (14th).

The top 11 in order were Harvard University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, University of Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Oxford, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of Chicago and Yale University.

UCLA consistently performs well in multiple rankings that use a wide range of criteria.

In May, London’s Times Higher Education’s World Reputation Rankings, which assess the international prestige of institutions of higher learning, placed UCLA No. 2 among all U.S. public universities. In addition the latest U.S. News and World Report ranked UCLA No. 8 in its 2016 Best Global Universities rankings and the latest Washington Monthly College Guide and Rankings placed UCLA sixth based on its service in the public interest.