{"id":207067,"date":"2026-04-09T13:40:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/u-s-news-world-report-ranks-uc-san-diego-graduate-programs-among-the-nations-best-uc-san-diego-today\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:40:34","slug":"u-s-news-world-report-ranks-uc-san-diego-graduate-programs-among-the-nations-best-uc-san-diego-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/u-s-news-world-report-ranks-uc-san-diego-graduate-programs-among-the-nations-best-uc-san-diego-today\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. News & World Report Ranks UC San Diego Graduate Programs Among the Nation\u2019s Best – UC San Diego Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

School of Pharmacy is No. 6, the School of Arts and Humanities\u2019 fine arts program is No. 8, and School of Engineering is No. 9 in the nation
Graduate programs at UC San Diego continue to stand out among the nation’s best in U.S. News and World Report’s 2026 ranking of Best Graduate Schools. Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences rose six spots to No. 6 in the nation, the highest ranking since its founding in 2002. The School of Arts and Humanities’ fine arts program was ranked No. 8 in the nation. The Jacobs School of Engineering ranked No. 9 best engineering school in the nation.
The Jacobs School of Engineering’s computer science program rose one spot to No. 12, with three of its specialties ranked among the top 15 nationally – systems (11), programming language (12), and theory (15) – while artificial intelligence (10) was ranked among the top 10 nationally.
“We are proud to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report for the exceptional quality and cutting-edge impact of UC San Diego’s graduate programs,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “These rankings underscore the strength of our world-class faculty and the achievements of our graduate students and alumni, who are advancing innovation in technology, health and beyond — improving lives, strengthening whole communities and shaping a brighter future for us all.”
The School of Medicine maintained a stellar Tier 1 ranking in overall research, while also reaching Tier 1 status for Primary Care. U.S. News & World Report also recognized the Rady School of Management’s executive MBA program, which debuted in the annual rankings at No. 32 nationally and No. 5 in California. The school also saw its rankings rise five spots for the Full-Time MBA program (No. 63 nationally, No. 32 public) and 15 spots for its Part-Time MBA program (No. 53 nationally, No. 32 public).
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences<\/a> jumped ahead six spots to No. 6 in the nation. It also ranked No. 2 in California. The pharmacy school, which welcomed its 23rd class in 2025<\/a>, continues to make major impacts across education, discovery and patient care.
“Being ranked among the nation’s top 10 pharmacy schools — and being the youngest institution in the top 25 — underscores what is possible when a community shares a bold vision for improving human health through pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences,” says Brookie Best, PharmD, MAS, dean of Skaggs School of Pharmacy. “This recognition speaks to the remarkable impact our students, faculty, staff and alumni are making nationally across the profession of pharmacy.”
Over the last year, Skaggs School of Pharmacy faculty published almost 500 peer-reviewed papers, advancing innovations in ocean-based drug discovery, Alzheimer’s disease research and the practice of pharmacy.
In addition, two faculty members were recognized for their impact in their fields: Elizabeth Winzeler, PhD<\/a>, associate dean for research and innovation at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences — one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve — and Pieter Dorrestein, PhD<\/a>, professor at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and the Departments of Pharmacology and Pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine, was named a Highly Cited Researcher for the eighth consecutive year by Clarivate, underscoring his influential contributions to decoding the language of the microbiome.
The School of Arts and Humanities rose two spots in the fine arts category, ranking No. 8 overall and No. 4 among public institutions nationwide. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program in the Department of Visual Arts prepares students to pursue a career in the contemporary art field, including all aspects of art making, criticism, theory and curating. Students may also choose a PhD path in art history, theory and criticism that includes a concentration in art practice — a unique offering among U.S. universities.
“Our position as one of the top programs in the nation for fine arts reflects the depth of engagement among our faculty and students,” says Cristina Della Coletta, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. “Working as interdisciplinary researchers across performance, film, computational media and other artistic forms, our artists interrogate the world around us, offering powerful perspectives on issues ranging from technological change to climate anxiety.”
Visual Arts faculty approach timely questions through an interdisciplinary lens — from Assistant Professor Memo Akten, who blends dance and poetry with neuroscience and AI<\/a>, to Associate Professor Alison O’Daniel, who is redefining accessible sound design for film<\/a>.
Graduate students in the Department of Visual Arts are grappling with big questions, like MFA student Andrew Wharton, whose work is inspired by the curious connections between humans, nature, culture and technology. Photo by Erik Jepsen, University Communications.
MFA alumni have built thriving careers across the arts, including Marge Dean ’74, MFA ’80, executive producer of Prime Video’s “Invincible” animated series<\/a>, and celebrated artists like National Medal of Arts recipient Carrie Mae Weems<\/a>, MFA ’84.
For the third consecutive year, the Jacobs School of Engineering rose one spot in the rankings to reach No. 9 in the nation for 2026, up from No. 11 in 2024 and No. 10 in 2025. Among public engineering schools, it ranks No. 6 in the country and No. 2 in California.  Four of its graduate programs ranked in the top 15: biomedical engineering\/bioengineering (4), computer engineering (13), computer science (12) and electrical engineering (14).
“These rising rankings reflect our relevance as collaborative problem solvers. We partner across campus to leverage advances in engineering and computer science for the public good,” says Albert P. Pisano, dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering and Special Adviser to the Chancellor. “Congratulations and thank you to everyone in the Jacobs School — and to all of our collaborators.”
With highly ranked graduate programs spanning all six engineering and computer science departments, the Jacobs School’s transformative technical education and cutting-edge research continue to drive innovation and real-world impact.
For instance, building on efforts to better understand early-onset colorectal cancer and lung cancer in never-smokers, a team led by Ludmil Alexandrov received new funding<\/a> to study the molecular origins of cancer. Jacobs School engineers upgraded a major fusion research facility<\/a> on campus to reduce the time and cost of developing materials for fusion reactors. Engineers are also leading a new effort to address the liver transplant shortage in the U.S. through 3D bioprinting innovations<\/a>. In addition, computer and weather scientists are developing an AI agent that can help analyze complex data from forecasting models<\/a>.
U.S. News & World Report annually evaluates professional schools and programs in business, education, law, engineering, medicine and nursing, including specialties in each area. The Best Graduate School rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s academic productivity and postgraduate outcomes. However, U.S. News & World Report does not review every graduate program annually.
In addition to the fine arts rankings being updated for the first time in six years, for the first time in several years there are new rankings of PhD programs in a number of fields, including biology, biostatistics, chemistry, earth science, mathematics, physics and statistics.
To read the complete rankings, visit the U.S. News and World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools list<\/a>. For a complete listing of UC San Diego rankings and accolades, visit the online campus profile.<\/a>
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School of Pharmacy is No. 6, the School of Arts and Humanities\u2019 fine arts program is No. 8, and School of Engineering is No. 9 in the nationGraduate programs at UC San Diego continue to stand out among the nation’s best in U.S. News and World Report’s 2026 ranking of Best Graduate Schools. Skaggs School […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":207068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-207067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}