The University of Arizona has once again been recognized as one of the world's elite research institutions by U.S. News & World Report.

The University of Arizona ranked No. 85 out of 1,500 higher education institutions across 81 countries in the 2020 Best Global Universities ranking, released Tuesday. The UA was No. 44 among universities in the U.S. and No. 21 among public universities.

The university's overall score of 70.6 represents an increase over last year's score of 69.7.

"The University of Arizona is recognized throughout the world as a premier academic research institution," said UA President Robert C. Robbins. "That reputation is due entirely to the consistently excellent work of our faculty and research staff and the university's long-standing commitment toward supporting world-class scholarship and research across all fields of study."

U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities also ranks colleges and universities in 28 separate subjects. The University of Arizona earned a spot on 26 of the subject rankings.

The university's highest subject ranking once again came in space science, where the UA is tied for No. 11 overall (No. 8 in the U.S and No. 3 among public universities), taking into account the university's strong research reputation and publication frequency. University of Arizona researchers currently hold leadership positions in the groundbreaking OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve and analyze particles from asteroid Bennu, as well as the effort to capture the first direct image of a black hole.

"This research reputation comes from a long history of astronomers and space scientists who came to this place in Arizona where they could see farther and more clearly," said Elizabeth "Betsy" Cantwell, senior vice president for research and innovation. "That vision has helped propel the University of Arizona and our people to stellar achievements."

The university also received top 100 placements for its programs in plant and animal sciences (20), geosciences (29), arts and humanities (30), environment and ecology (35), surgery (83), civil engineering (91), social sciences and public health (94) and economics and business (94).

As part of its overall ranking, the University of Arizona secured strong placements in books published (77), global research reputation (83), total citations (107) and publications (123).

The sixth annual Best Global Universities ranking is produced in order to provide insight into how research institutions compare throughout the world. The rankings focus specifically on schools' academic research and reputation overall.

U.S. News & World Report weighs factors that measure a university's global and regional research reputation and academic research performance using indicators such as publications, citations and international collaboration. The schools were evaluated based on 13 indicators that measure their academic research performance and their global and regional reputations.

In September, the university tied for No. 53 among U.S. public universities in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2020 ranking.