UC San Diego Ranked 20th Best University in the World

Article Content

The University of California, San Diego has been ranked the 20th best university in the world by the Center for the World University Rankings (CWUR) which measures universities’ quality of research, faculty, influence, enterprise and successful alumni.

The third-annual global rankings also listed UC San Diego as the 15th best university in the U.S. and the nation’s third best public university. In the category of “influence,” which measures the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals, UC San Diego was named the 5th best university in the world.

“UC San Diego’s faculty, staff, students and alumni have been influencing and contributing to our community and world through our research and education since our founding,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla.  “We are proud to be recognized as one of the world’s top public universities, and we will continue to advance the frontiers of knowledge and transform lives.”

The methodology for the CWUR’s 2014 rankings, which analyzed 2,000 universities, is based on eight indicators described as “robust and objective.” According to CWUR, the rankings are distinctive because they do not rely on opinion-based surveys, but rather they take a transparent and quantitative approach through measuring the following:

• Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals.
• Quality of faculty members, measured by the number of academics who have won major international awards, prizes and medals.
• Publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in reputable international journals.
• Citations, measured by the number of highly-cited research papers.
• Patents, measured by the number of international patent filings.
• Alumni employment, measured by the number of a university’s alumni who currently hold CEO positions at the world’s top 2,000 public companies relative to the university’s size.
• Quality of education, measured by the number of a university’s alumni who have won major international awards, prizes and medals relative to the university’s size.
• Broad Impact, measured by both the productivity and the impact of published work.

Universities were ranked in each of these categories and their combined totals equate to the individual college’s overall global ranking. UC San Diego earned high marks in the categories of influence (5th), broad impact (13th), patents (13th), publications (16th), citations (19th), quality of faculty (20th) and quality of education (32nd).

In addition to providing consultation for governments and universities, CWUR aims to provide the most comprehensive university rankings available, which are trusted by students, academics, university administrators and government officials from around the world.

The complete list of the world’s top 100 universities and its methodology can be found here.