Student Life

US News & World Report Rankings

Every year, US News & World Report evaluates graduate programs in five major disciplines: business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. It also issues occasional rankings of other graduate programs. For recent editions, programs in the biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, applied mathematics, and physics were reassessed. The magazine ranks programs using measures such as entering students' test scores and faculty/student ratios, and reputation ratings drawn from inside and outside academia.

The UCSB School of Engineering places among the top 21 graduate schools of engineering overall in the United States. The UCSB graduate program in materials holds the position of number 3 among U.S. colleges and universities, and the UCSB graduate program in chemical engineering holds the position of number 9.

The UCSB physics program is ranked within the top 10 graduate programs in the country. Geology at UCSB is considered among the top 21 graduate degree programs in that field. Numerous other UCSB graduate programs have placed extremely highly in the US News & World Report recent national rankings, including biological sciences, chemistry, English, economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. Several UCSB "specialties" within departments have also been recognized as stellar, notably tectonics/structure within geological sciences, condensed matter/low temperature within physics, and sociology of culture within sociology.

UC Santa Barbara edged higher in this latest ranking and now rates among the top 45 doctoral universities overall, and 12th among the top public universities in the related America's Best Colleges Survey. See the US News & World Report rankings for more details.