UC Riverside is ranked among the top 15% of universities in the world in the 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Times Higher Education, which has been publishing its rankings for 14 years, evaluates 18 performance indicators in the areas of teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook to arrive at its list.

In the list, released Oct. 9, UCR is included in the 301 – 350 group of universities. The rankings include 2,191 institutions from 115 countries and territories based on data collected from 2022 and 2023. Only 102 universities from the United States are in the top 500.It also provides rankings in specific subjects to indicate how institutions perform in different areas. In the 2026 rankings, UCR is in the 126-150 group for computer science, 151-175 for engineering, 151-175 for psychology, 151-175 for physical sciences, and 176-200 for life sciences.

UCR has had strong showings in college rankings this fall.  In the U.S. News & World Report rankings, UCR ranked No. 1 in the nation for social mobility, No. 36 among public universities, and No. 75 overall. In the Washington Monthly rankings, UCR is No. 25 among publics, and increased to the No. 50 university in the overall rankings. The Wall Street Journal ranked UCR No. 24 among public universities.