ICYMI: The University of California is the best public university in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings

New rankings released by U.S. News & World Report earlier this week named UC Berkeley and UCLA the nation's top public universities - a tie for first place, a position held by a UC campus since the 1999 edition of the rankings. In addition to being ranked as the best public university, UC held the top ranking for social mobility, with UC Riverside rated the best in helping lower-income students earn degrees that propel them to financially successful futures.

"The U.S. News Best Colleges rankings once again show why UC is the leading university in the world," said UC President James B. Milliken. "Every one of our undergraduate institutions is in the top 50 public universities nationwide, including two - UC Berkeley and UCLA - tied for No. 1. We're especially proud that all of our campuses are top performers in the rankings for social mobility, with UC Riverside leading the nation. That is UC's mission in action."

Following UC Berkeley and UCLA as the top public universities, UC San Diego, UC Davis, and UC Irvine are also in the top 10, and UC Santa Barbara, UC Merced, UC Riverside, and UC Santa Cruz are in the top 50. All nine UC undergraduate campuses feature among the best 125 of all universities, public or private, nationwide, a ranking of more than 1,700 four-year bachelor's degree-granting institutions.

In addition to UC Riverside ranking as the top university for social mobility, UC Merced was fourth, and all nine of UC's undergraduate campuses ranked highly. The social mobility metric evaluates an institution's ability to enroll and graduate students awarded Pell Grants. Six UC campuses -- UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara - also ranked in the top 25 for serving veterans.

The recognition of the University of California as the nation's best public university has been echoed by recent rankings from Forbes, Money and Pitchbook. You can read more about UC's standing in this year's edition of the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings here.

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