UC Berkeley #1 Public University in the nation. Is that all there is?

U.S. News and World Report came out with its college rankings a couple of days ago, and as per the last 18 years, Berkeley retained its ranking as the number #1 public university in the nation, with UCLA at #2. In terms of national rankings, including pubic and private universities, however, as is the ongoing wont of U.S News, Berkeley was relegated to #20, with UCLA at #23. These rankings have nothing to do with rigor and everything to do with money garnered by private universities (all in the top 19). U.S. News puts huge weight on donor giving, thereby assuring privates are always top-rated.  But that’s a story for another day.

Below are the Top 20 Public Universities for 2016

1.  University of California, Berkeley
2.  UCLA
3.  University of Virginia
4.  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
5.  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
6.  College of William and Mary
7.  Georgia Institute of Technology
8.  University of California, Santa Barbara
9.  Tie:  University of California, Irvine
9.  Tie:  University of California, San Diego
11.  Tie: University of California, Davis
11.  Tie: University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
11.  Tie: University of Wisconsin
14.  Tie: Penn State
14.  Tie: University of Florida
16.  Tie: Ohio State University, Columbus
16.  Tie: University of Texas at Austin
16.  Tie: University of Washington
19.  Tie:  University of Connecticut
19.  Tie:  University of Maryland, College Park

Below are the Top 20 National Universities for 2016 

1.  Princeton University
2.  Harvard University
3.  Yale University
4.  Tie: Columbia University
4.  Tie: Stanford University
4.  Tie: University of Chicago
7.   Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8.   Duke University
9.   University of Pennsylvania
10.  Tie: California Institute of Technology
10.  Tie: John Hopkins University
12.  Tie: Dartmouth University
12.  Tie: Northwestern University
14.  Brown University
15.  Tie: Cornell University
15.  Tie: Vanderbilt University
15.  Tie: Washington University in St. Louis
18.  Tie:  Rice University
18.  Tie: University of Notre Dame
20.  University of California, Berkeley

See all the U.S News and World Report ranking categories here.

If you are interested in more information on national and global rankings, there’s an entire chapter devoted to it (including US News, Forbes, Kiplinger, Princeton Review, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, Money Magazine, Times Higher Education, Academic Rankings of Global Universities, QS World Rankings), along with their methodologies in How to Transfer to a UC from a California Community College: The Unofficial Guide, available on both Amazon and iTunes.

UPDATE: For more of my posts on rankings, click here.