SAN DIEGO — The University of California San Diego has been ranked No. 4 among the best public universities in the U.S. and No. 19 in the world.

That’s according to the latest edition of the annual ranking released by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, also known as the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The 2023 rankings were determined based on these key factors: quality of education, alumni employment, quality of faculty and research performance.

Scores were also measured by factors like the number of faculty members who have won prestigious academic distinctions and the number of research papers appearing in top-tier journals.

UC San Diego is among the top 10 most cited institutions the world, according to Clarivate’s most recent Highly Cited Researchers list. From new discoveries in physics to computer science and chemistry, the university’s researcher have led the way in a variety of fields.

“We are pleased to see UC San Diego’s reputation as one of the top-ranked global research universities continue to climb in global rankings and recognition,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Our impressive placement in the 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities spotlights UC San Diego as a world-class institution whose community of scholars actively pursues groundbreaking discovery and innovation to solve society’s biggest challenges.” 

Other accolades worth mentioning include UC San Diego’s newly formed Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics that will give students an opportunity to complete in-depth astronomy and astrophysics coursework.

Impactful research like engineered bacteria that can detect the presence of tumor DNA and insight into the progression of kidney disease after acute kidney injury are among other things that have led ARW to consider UC San Diego among the best public universities globally.

Established in 2003, the ARWU evaluates over 2,500 institutions to compile its final list of the top 1,000 universities in the world.