News Release
Top 10, Yet Again
UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering ranks Top 10 in U.S. News & World Report Rankings of Best Engineering Schools
April 8, 2025 -- The University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering has ranked the #10 best in the nation in the influential U.S. News & World Report Rankings of Best Engineering Schools. This #10 ranking is up from #11 last year. Among public engineering schools, the Jacobs School of Engineering ranks #6 best engineering school in the nation, up from #7 last year.
The Jacobs School has ranked in the Top 10 in the U.S. News Best Engineering Schools ranking four times in the last six years: the school ranked #9 in 2020, #9 in 2021, #10 in 2022 and #10 in 2025. (Read the UC San Diego campuswide rankings story here.)
“Our hard work makes a difference. Even in these trying times, we are rising to fulfill our education and research missions,” said Albert P. Pisano, Dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and Special Adviser to the Chancellor. “To all our faculty, staff and students, thank you! Your hard work and excellence make a big difference. To our entire Jacobs School community, thank you for your expertise and generosity. Together we advance engineering and computer science research and education for the public good. Together, we improve lives.”
#1 in the Nation among Public Engineering Schools for Academic Paper Citations
For the second year in a row, the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering ranked #1 in the nation among public engineering schools for citations per publication – and #6 in the nation overall – in the U.S. News rankings. Citation rankings measure the scholarly impact that an engineering school’s faculty have in their field and the caliber of their research. The Jacobs School’s top spot reflects the world-class reputation of our faculty and their thought-leadership across engineering and computer science disciplines.
Research Funding Rises
Research expenditures at the Jacobs School of Engineering rose to $316 million, an increase of more than 23% from the previous fiscal year. This year, for the first time, the Jacobs School reported almost equal amounts of industry/private/philanthropic funding and government funding across this $316M research enterprise. This near parity in research expenditures (47% industry/private/philanthropic support versus 49% government support) is a result of our industry funding growing faster than our government funding, though both sources of research funding rose last year.
“Our diversified research portfolio affirms one of our long-standing mantras: the great engineering schools of the next decade will collaborate their way to relevance,” said Pisano.
This industry relevance, Pisano explained, has attracted significant industry collaboration which drives ever greater relevance.
Research expenditures per faculty member at the Jacobs School rank #2 among all engineering schools in the nation, public or private.
Graduate Program Departmental Rankings
In addition to the school-wide rankings, US News also ranks many engineering and computer science graduate programs. Jacobs School graduate programs that ranked in the top 30 in the April 2025 US News Best Engineering Schools graduate program rankings are listed below.
Bioengineering
#3 among public institutions
#8 in the nation
Computer Science, Systems
#6 among public institutions
#10 in the nation
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
#6 among public institutions
#11 in the nation
Computer Science, Programming Language
#5 among public institutions
#11 in the nation
Computer Engineering
#7 among public institutions
#12 in the nation
Computer Science
#7 among public institutions
#13 in the nation
Computer Science, Theory
#6 among public institutions
#14 in the nation
Electrical Engineering
#8 among public institutions
#14 in the nation
Aerospace Engineering
#13 among public institutions
#18 in the nation
Civil Engineering
#13 among public institutions
#20 in the nation
Mechanical Engineering
#13 among public institutions
#22 in the nation
Materials Engineering
#16 among public institutions
#27 in the nation
Media Contacts
Katherine Connor
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-534-8374
khconnor@ucsd.edu