The University of Arizona is one of the world's elite research institutions, according to Times Higher Education rankings released Wednesday.

The UA ranks No. 104 overall in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 – a 55-spot leap over the university's position last year. The UA ranks No. 42 among all U.S. colleges and universities and No. 20 among public institutions.

It is the UA's highest mark in these rankings since 2015.

"It is exciting to see our research excellence recognized on a prestigious international platform," said UA President Robert C. Robbins. "These rankings reflect the strength of our faculty and staff experts, our commitment to solve the world’s grand challenges, and our ability to provide our students with the unique opportunity to work alongside world-renowned scientists and scholars who are among the best in their fields."

The UA also made significant gains in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, released Sept. 4, rising 81 spots to No. 136 overall in this list of U.S. colleges and universities.

Founded in 2003, the World University Rankings judge research-intensive universities across five core missions:

• Teaching (the learning environment): 30%
• Research (volume, income and reputation): 30%
• Citations (research influence): 30%
• International outlook (staff, students and research) 7.5%
• Industry income (knowledge transfer): 2.5%

The UA's highest ranked pillar came in the teaching category, with strong scores in citations and research helping to bolster the UA's overall ranking.

Times Higher Education relies on 13 performance indicators for scoring in these five areas. More than 1,300 colleges and universities across 92 countries and regions were evaluated for the 2020 edition.

Results are independently audited by professional services network PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The World University Rankings are drawn from Times Higher Education's database of university performance metrics, with more than 170 separate data points on each of the world's leading research universities and two global surveys of senior, published scholars that drew more than 21,000 responses. Times Higher Education seeks to ensure balance across all disciplines, with a proportionate number of responses from the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Research excellence is assessed through the examination of more than 12.8 million publications and 77.4 million citations, with more than 330 global subject-level benchmarks.

The UA also jumped 139 places in Money Magazine's sixth annual Best Colleges for Your Money ranking in August, and posted a 46-spot increase in Forbes' fourth annual Best Value Colleges list, released in May.