In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024, released earlier this week, UC Davis ranked 35th in the world in the broad category of the life sciences and medicine. Previous rankings, in 2023, placed campus at 38th globally in the same category. 

Quacquarelli Symonds, or QS, is considered one of the most influential international authorities on university rankings. The campus was also ranked in each of the other broad categories of the rankings: natural sciences; engineering and technology; arts and humanities; and social sciences and management.

Campus was also recognized for its global leadership in the fields of veterinary science, and agriculture and forestry, which were ranked second in the world.

The university also had top-50 rankings in five other subjects:

• environmental sciences, 23rd
• geophysics, tied for 42nd
• biological sciences, 43rd
• geology, tied for 47th
• development studies, tied for 49th

“These rankings underscore that UC Davis is the global leader in veterinary science and agriculture,” said Chancellor Gary S. May. “They also show that the campus provides a world-class education across academic disciplines, while conducting impactful research that advances understanding and solutions to the planet’s most pressing challenges.”

The rankings consider reputation among academics; reputation among employers; the citations and impact of academic papers from a university; and the diversity of a university’s international research network. In all, the 2024 rankings analyzed programs in 55 subjects at 4,982 institutions and ranked 1,559 universities across the world. This year, QS did not provide national rankings.

UC Davis and rankings

A world-class university, UC Davis is highly ranked for how it transforms students’ lives, the impact of its research, the excellence of its academic programs, its sustainability and more. The university performs self-evaluations and also appreciates the value of third-party assessments. However, ranking methods vary, change over time and can be subjective. UC Davis focuses on those rankings that most closely align with its mission and values — including serving the public good, inclusiveness and equity, and social mobility — and in national rankings looks most closely at its standing among public universities. UC Davis encourages prospective students and their families to weigh rankings among other factors in their college decision, talk with counselors and UC Davis admissions advisors, and, if possible, visit the campus.