The University of Wisconsin-Madison was ranked 39th overall and 13th among public universities out of 438 public and private schools offering doctoral programs in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Colleges rankings.
UW–Madison’s undergraduate programs were ranked in the top 20 in engineering, computer science, business, economics and many professional fields, and the Wisconsin Business School’s undergraduate real estate program was ranked No. 1 in the nation.
“We offer a high-quality education across a wide range of disciplines and are proud that our success continues to be recognized through rankings,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin. “However, rankings are only one of many indicators of success for any school, including ours.”
The rankings highlight universities that excel in areas such as peer reputation, value, social mobility, graduation rates, faculty resources, standardized test scores and faculty research. Last year, UW was ranked in a tie for 35th overall and in a tie for 12th among public universities with three schools. Five years ago, in 2019, UW–Madison was ranked 49th overall.
Each year, U.S. News publishes rankings of specific undergraduate programs and specializations at universities. Many of these rankings have multiple institutions tied for first place. In the 2025 rankings, UW–Madison ranked top for undergraduate programs in the following areas:
Business ranked 18th overall (5 ties) and 9th among public universities. It was ranked 1st again in real estate and 2nd in insurance/risk management. Other majors ranked were 8th in marketing, 16th in accounting (2 ties), 16th in production/operations management (3 ties), 20th in business administration, 24th in supply chain management/logistics, and 32nd in finance (3 ties). Computer Science ranked 16th overall (3 ties) and 9th among public universities. Other majors ranked included 8th in computer systems, 9th in programming languages, 17th in cybersecurity, and 25th in artificial intelligence (5 ties). Economics ranked 19th overall (2 ties) and 4th among public universities (2 ties). Engineering ranked 13th overall and 7th among public universities. The majors that made the rankings are: Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems Engineering (11th, tied for 2nd), Chemical Engineering (15th, Computer Engineering (16th, Materials Engineering (17th, Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering (21st, Environmental Health Engineering (23rd, tied for 3rd), Biomedical Engineering (24th, tied for 2nd), Civil Engineering (25th, tied for 2nd), and Electrical Engineering (25th, tied for 3rd). Nursing is ranked 26th overall (tied for 13th) and 19th among public universities (tied for 8th). Psychology is ranked 22nd overall (tied for 7th) and 8th among public universities (tied for 4th).
Other categories in which UW–Madison received high scores include:
Ranked 20th overall in the “Best Colleges for Veterans” and 13th among public universities. Ranked 42nd in Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects. Ranked 89th for the second consecutive year in the “Best Value Schools” list.
Click here to see the complete rankings.