U of A earns top marks in space science, geosciences, water resources in new US News global ranking
The University of Arizona ranks No. 4 in the world in producing research related to the field of space science, according to U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
U.S. News & World Report has once again recognized the University of Arizona as one of the world's top research institutions.
The U of A ranked No. 115 out of 2,250 higher education institutions across more than 100 countries in the 2025-2026 Best Global Universities ranking, released Tuesday. The university ranked No. 44 among universities in the U.S. and No. 23 among public U.S. universities.
The ranking placed the U of A among the top 10% of all ranked universities across the globe.
The U of A again earned its best ranking in the space science category, rising four spots to No. 4 globally and No. 2 among U.S. public universities. The university earned top marks in this category for its research reputation, along with the number of citations and publications by U of A researchers.
The U of A also ranked highly in water resources (No. 2 in the U.S., No. 31 globally) and geosciences (No. 10 in the U.S., No. 25 globally).
Additional top-100 global placements include the U of A's programs in meteorology and atmospheric sciences (No. 45), environment/ecology (No. 62), plant/animal sciences (tied for No. 77) and arts and humanities (tied for No. 88).
U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities ranks colleges and universities in 51 subjects. The University of Arizona earned a spot on 35 of the subject ranking lists.
The university's overall research reputation was ranked No. 47 in the U.S. and No. 101 globally.
The 11th 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.
