UC Merced’s School of Engineering among nation’s best in latest rankings

UC Merced’s School of Engineering has been named one of the best in the nation according to the 2026 U.S. News and World Report graduate school rankings. U.S. News and World Report ranked UC Merced’s program No. 99 among the country’s Best Engineering Schools. UC Merced ranked in the top 12 among California universities.

The School of Engineering rose seven spots since 2025 and is up 41 positions since debuting in the U.S. News rankings in 2015, according to a UC Merced news release. “Earning a top 100 spot 11 years after first entering the U.S. News rankings, and 20 years after the campus opened, is a significant milestone for UC Merced’s School of Engineering,” Dean Rakesh Goel said in the news release. “It reflects the extraordinary dedication of our faculty, staff and students, and indicates the strong upward momentum of our programs as we continue to expand our impact and reputation nationwide.”

Six of Engineering’s seven graduate programs made the rankings list again this year. Environmental Systems (Best Environmental Engineering) climbed four spots to No. 82. The U.S. News rankings are designed to help prospective students research more than 2,000 graduate programs, the news release said. UC Merced’s graduate programs in the School of Natural Sciences posted some of the largest gains in this year’s U.S. News rankings. The Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Group made the largest jump, up 18 spots to No. 118. The Quantitative and Systems Biology Graduate Group (Best Biological Sciences Programs) ranked No. 131, up 13 spots from last year, and the Physics Graduate Program rose nine spots to No. 104.

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