UCLA is once again the country’s No. 1 public university, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s annual university rankings released Monday.
UCLA fell to the second-best public university last year after eight years at the top. UCLA tied with UC Berkeley for the number one spot this year.
[Related: UCLA loses No. 1 public university title in 2026 US News & World Report ranking]
U.S. News & World Report releases annual rankings of the nation’s top universities based on criteria including graduation and retention rates, peer assessments, financial resources per student, faculty salaries and federal Pell Grant recipient performance.
UCLA lost the top spot last year after the Trump administration froze $584 million in the university’s federal research grants in July 2025.
The federal government froze the university’s grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and United States Department of Energy, alleging that UCLA allowed affirmative action, antisemitism and “men to participate in women’s sports.” Chancellor Julio Frenk denied the allegations in a January Q&A with the Bruin.
A federal judge restored most of the grants in August and September 2025 and separately ruled in November that the Trump Administration could not freeze or threaten to freeze any more of the UC’s federal research grants.
However, UCLA fell from 17th place to number 20 in the U.S. News & World Report’s national universities rankings. UCLA is tied with both UC Berkeley and the University of Notre Dame in the national universities rankings.
UCLA Media Relations and UC Berkeley Media Relations did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the rankings.
