The University of California, Berkeley is the second-largest public university in the nation in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report’s latest national university rankings, released today (Monday, September 23, 2024).
Last year, Berkeley tied for first place with this year’s No. 1, UCLA. Over the past 20 years, Berkeley has been named the No. 1 public university in the U.S. by the magazine 15 times, finishing in second place several times during that time. Berkeley also earned top spots among U.S. News-ranked universities for its Environment/Environmental Health and Data Analytics/Science programs.
Today’s results are consistent with other national and global rankings that place Berkeley among the top American universities. Last month, Berkeley was named the No. 1 public university in the nation by Forbes magazine’s list of America’s Top Colleges, and earlier this month, PitchBook rankings revealed that Berkeley produces more startup founders, companies and female entrepreneurs than any other university in the world.
“Berkeley stands out as a world-class university in higher education and research,” said President Rich Lyons. “Rankings like these prove exactly what we know to be true: Berkeley remains the best place in the world for brilliant students and faculty to conduct groundbreaking research. We will continue to work together to support our diverse Berkeley community and make Berkeley even better than it is today. As I have said many times before, we are just getting started.”
Among Berkeley’s many accomplishments are 26 Nobel Prize-winning faculty members, 400 degree programs (including 30 graduate programs ranked in the top 10 by U.S. News & World Report last April), and 246 Olympic medals.
The recent rankings come at an exciting time for the campus. Berkeley researchers continue to make groundbreaking discoveries in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and data science. This year, Berkeley joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, a move that ensures the long-term stability of UC Athletics and maintains its vital role on campus. Additionally, a series of major construction projects are underway across campus, including new residence halls, new faculty buildings, and new buildings for the Department of Computing, Data Science, and Social Sciences.
Berkeley also ranked in the top five in 28 of 44 other categories, including entrepreneurship and undergraduate psychology programs, according to U.S. News’ release today. Across the UC system, every undergraduate campus was ranked in the top 100 of public and private universities combined by U.S. News. UC Berkeley placed 17th in this overall ranking.
For the past decade, U.S. News has named Berkeley the best public university in the world. This annual global ranking is released in the fall.
Like last year, U.S. News changed how it creates its rankings this year, with the 2025 list no longer taking into account six-year graduation rates for first-generation students and placing more emphasis on graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients, among other changes.