Space sciences, water resources, geosciences excel in latest US News global ranking

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Mirror Lab

At the University of Arizona Richard F. Caris Mirror Laboratory, a team of scientists and engineers are making giant, lightweight mirrors of unprecedented power for a new generation of optical telescopes.

Giant Magellan Telescope – GMTO Corporation, Damien Jemison

From space sciences to water resources, the University of Arizona is again recognized as one of the world's top research institutions. 

UArizona ranked No. 115 out of 2,250 higher education institutions across more than 100 countries in the 2024-2025 Best Global Universities ranking, released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. The university ranked No. 44 among universities in the U.S. and No. 23 among public U.S. universities. 

The ranking placed UArizona among the top 10% of all ranked universities across the globe. 

UArizona earned its best scores in the space science category, placing No. 8 overall, No. 6 in the U.S. and No. 2 among public universities. The university earned top marks in this category for its research reputation, along with the number of citations and publications by UArizona researchers. 

UArizona also retained its stellar rankings in water resources (No. 2 in the U.S., No. 29 globally) and geosciences (No. 10 in the U.S., No. 25 globally). 

UArizona also earned top-100 global placements for its programs in meteorology and atmospheric sciences (No. 47), environment/ecology (No. 59), arts and humanities (tied for No. 78) and plant/animal sciences (No. 78).

"I am continually in awe of the brilliant scientists and scholars who teach and conduct research at the University of Arizona," said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. "Their groundbreaking discoveries across a wide variety of disciplines help foster an environment of bold thinking that is necessary to address and solve the world’s biggest challenges. I am very proud to see the University of Arizona recognized as one of the world's top research institutions."

U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities ranks colleges and universities in 51 subjects – up from 47 the last time this list was updated, in October 2022. The University of Arizona earned a spot on 38 of the subject ranking lists. 

The university's overall research reputation was ranked No. 47 in the U.S. and No. 98 globally. 

The 10th annual Best Global Universities rankings provide insight into how research institutions compare throughout the world. To produce the global rankings, which are based on data and metrics provided by the analytics company Clarivate, U.S. News & World Report uses a methodology that focuses on a university's global and regional reputation and academic research performance using indicators such as citations and publications. 

U.S. News uses a separate methodology for the subject-specific rankings that is based on academic research performance in each subject. U.S. News uses various measures, including publications and citations as well as indicators for global and regional reputation in each specific subject area.