Golden State Today

UC Berkeley has been ranked as the No. 2 public school in the United States for 2025, according to the latest rankings by U.S. News and World Report, announced on September 23, 2024.

Last year, UC Berkeley tied for first place with UCLA, which holds the top spot this year. Over the past two decades, Berkeley has frequently been named either the No. 1 or No. 2 public school in the country by U.S. News. The university also achieved top rankings for its environmental/environmental health and data analytics/science programs.

Chancellor Rich Lyons commented on the achievement: “Berkeley continues to stand out as a world-class institution of higher education and research. Rankings like these recognize exactly what we know to be true: that Berkeley remains the best place in the world for our brilliant students and faculty to do groundbreaking work. We’ll keep striving together to support our diverse Berkeley community, making this an even better institution than it already is. As I’ve said many times before, we’re just getting started.”

In addition to its high placement in U.S. News' rankings, UC Berkeley was recently named the No. 1 public university in the Wall Street Journal’s 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S., Forbes magazine's list of America’s top colleges last month, and a PitchBook ranking that highlighted Berkeley's role in generating startup founders and female entrepreneurs.

UC Berkeley boasts numerous accomplishments including having 26 faculty Nobel laureates and offering 400 degree programs, with 30 graduate programs ranked in the Top 10 by U.S. News last April. The university's Olympic athletes have won a total of 246 medals.

The recent rankings come at a significant time for UC Berkeley as researchers continue to make advancements in fields such as artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and data science. This year also saw Berkeley joining the Atlantic Coast Conference to ensure long-term stability for Cal Athletics and ongoing campus construction projects including new student housing and academic buildings.

U.S. News also placed UC Berkeley among the top five schools in 28 out of their other categories such as entrepreneurship and undergraduate psychology programs. All undergraduate campuses within the University of California system were ranked among the top 100 public and private universities combined by U.S. News, with UC Berkeley coming in at No. 17 overall.

For ten consecutive years, U.S. News has named UC Berkeley as the top public university globally in their annual global universities ranking set to be released later this fall.

This year's ranking methodology from U.S. News included revisions such as removing six-year graduation rates of first-generation students while giving extra weight to Pell grant recipients' graduation rates.