UC Merced continues to build on its reputation as a world-class research university, debuting at No. 4 among U.S. universities in the 2019 Times Higher Education Young University Rankings released today.
The list ranks the best 351 universities in the world that are 50 years old and younger. UC Merced ranked No. 60 among all universities that qualified for the list.
This is UC Merced’s first year of eligibility for the ranking, which weighs teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income of qualifying universities.
“I consider this ranking to be an incredible feat for our young campus, because it shows that we are a top-notch university that is already being recognized for excellence at just 14 years old,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said. “The work we are doing inside and outside the classroom continues to propel our mission, and our reputation will only grow as our campus does.”
The ranking is the latest in a string of accolades for UC Merced. Last fall, U.S. News and World Report ranked the university at No. 67 among public schools, a jump of 20 spots from the previous year — while also ranking No. 2 in the nation for outperforming graduation rate expectations, No. 15 for social mobility and No. 17 among public universities for best undergraduate teaching. Late last year, Education Dive recognized UC Merced as “University of the Year” in their Dive Awards, which honor innovators and disruptors in higher education.
I consider this ranking to be an incredible feat for our young campus, because it shows that we are a top-notch university that is already being recognized for excellence at just 14 years old. The work we are doing inside and outside the classroom continues to propel our mission, and our reputation will only grow as our campus does.
Teaching, research and citations make up 90 percent of the criteria for the Young University Rankings. The teaching category focuses on the learning environment, including a reputation survey, staff-to-student ratio and doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio.
Research considers the university’s reputation for research excellence among its peers, as well as the income and productivity of the research departments. Citations indicate the university’s role in spreading new knowledge and ideas through published works. UC Merced is the youngest university to ever earn Carnegie R2 research classification, which indicates high research activity.
Other rankings criteria include international outlook, which deciphers the ability of the university to attract undergraduates, postgraduates and faculty from all over the world, and industry income, which weighs the university’s ability to help industry with innovations, inventions and consultancy.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ranked first in the rankings for the second year in a row. Universities from the U.S. ranked ahead of UC Merced were the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Texas at Dallas and George Mason University. UC Merced tied with Rush University in Illinois for fourth among U.S. universities.
