COLLEGE PARK, Md - The University of Maryland ranked No. 11 among U.S. public institutions—its highest ranking to date—and No. 29 overall in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s list of 2025-26 Best Global Universities released Tuesday.
The rankings—focused on academic and research reputations based on 13 factors such as citations, publications and conferences—placed UMD at No. 72 among 2,250 top universities from more than 100 countries.
UMD improved from its 2024-25 rankings in 10 academic disciplines: agriculture sciences, arts and humanities, biotechnology and applied microbiology, chemical engineering, green and sustainable science and technology, meteorology and atmospheric sciences, neuroscience and nanotechnology, optics, social sciences and public health, and space science. It also advanced in the number of publications that are among top 10% cited and conference scores.
UMD programs in the Top 20 globally include:
- Geoscience (No. 13)
- Physics (No. 19)
- Meteorology and atmospheric sciences (No. 17)
- Space science (No. 22)
Programs in the Top 50 include:
- Education and educational research (No. 38)
- Green and sustainable science and technology (No. 39)
- Energy and fuels (No. 46)
- Computer science (No. 50)