The University of Arizona is once again ranked among the top higher education institutions in the United States, according to Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings.

UArizona tied for No. 64 overall and tied for No. 30 among public universities in the second QS World University Rankings: USA, released May 5. QS considered 769 U.S. colleges and universities for its final list of 352 schools. UArizona's overall mark improved four spots from last year's inaugural ranking.

"I am proud to see the University of Arizona earn such positive recognition once again in these QS rankings," said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. "Diversity is a core value for our university, and we take great pride in educating a diverse population of students who are prepared for an international workforce. The university provides an exceptional learning environment alongside groundbreaking research, as evidenced by this ranking."

Universities were evaluated on 17 metrics in four categories: employability, learning experience, research, and diversity and internationalization. UArizona got its highest score in the diversity and internationalization category.

Universities also were ranked within each category. UArizona's highest category ranking was in research, where it was ranked No. 49 overall and No. 28 among public universities.

The employability category, which accounts for 24.5% of a university's overall score, looks at the employment prospects of students graduating from U.S. institutions, based on metrics such as the results of the QS Employer Reputation Survey and alumni outcomes and salaries after graduation.

The diversity and internationalization category (25% of the overall score) attempts to classify to what extent a higher education institution is striving to be as inclusive as possible while promoting an environment that seeks to achieve two United Nations sustainable development goals: gender equality and reduced inequality. The category includes the following indicators: gender pay gap, faculty gender diversity, ratio of undergraduates receiving Pell grants, students' ethnicity mix, number of Fulbright students and proportion of international students.

The learning experience category (22% of the overall score) aims to reflect an institution's overall learning environment based on the level of support a college or university offers its students regardless of socioeconomic background. Metrics include retention rate, student-faculty ratio, average instructional expenditure per full-time student and graduation rates of Pell grant recipients compared with other students.

The research category (28.5% of the overall score) is designed to capture how an institution is having an impact and contributing to knowledge creation. It focuses on research quality and how open and internationally collaborative an institution's research outputs are. The category takes into account academic reputation, citations per research paper and partnerships with employers.

The QS World University Rankings began ranking global institutions in 2004. UArizona was ranked No. 273 in the 2021 World University Rankings (No. 57 in the U.S) and No. 24 overall in geology.