UC Riverside has again been named the No. 1 university in the nation for social mobility by U.S. News & World Report.
This is the sixth year that U.S. News has featured a breakout category for social mobility, which considers the degree to which a university elevates its low-income graduates to a higher standard of living. The first three years, UCR was ranked No. 1 in the nation among four-year universities; for the past two years, it was No. 2.
“Everyone at UC Riverside is committed to the success of our students," said Kim Wilcox, UCR's chancellor. "That commitment has led to our top rankings in student social mobility not just this year, but year after year.”
UCR tied for the top ranking with Florida International University.
U.S. News released its 2024-25 Best Colleges list on Sept. 23. U.S. News' Best Colleges is the nation’s most watched college rankings list.
In its social mobility ranking, U.S. News aggregates two factors that assess the graduation rates of students who receive the Pell Grant, typically awarded to families earning less than $65,000 per year. The factors are Pell Grant six-year graduation rates and Pell Grant graduation rate performance. More than 45% of UCR’s undergraduates receive a Pell Grant.
UCR was No. 76 in overall rank, which was its placement this past year. It also remained No. 36 among public universities for the second consecutive year.
In U.S. News’ scoring formula, 19 categories are considered. The greatest weight (21%) in U.S. News’ overall national ranking is afforded to graduation rates, which is a four-year average of six-year graduation rates; graduate rate performance, which considers predicted vs. actual graduation rates, receives 10% weight; and peer assessment, a reputational survey among presidents, provosts, and admissions deans, receives 20%. The biggest formula change this year was to give greater weight to graduation rates, which accounted for 16% of the overall ranking score in 2023-24 vs. 20% this year.
UCR moved up to No. 22 nationally in U.S. News' “most innovative” subcategory, based on nominations from universities’ top leadership. In 2023-24, UCR was No. 25 in the category.
UCR’s Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering’s undergraduate computer science program moved up three positions to No. 53 in the nation. UCR’s undergraduate psychology program, in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, climbed 17 places to No. 63, and the CHASS undergraduate economics department climbed 10 spots to No. 78.
In the overall list, Princeton University is No. 1, Massachusetts Institute of Technology is No. 2, and Harvard University is No. 3.
In the past few years, U.S. News has made major adjustments to its formula, placing greater value on the categories in which UCR performs well. In 2019, social mobility was given greater overall weight, in addition to getting its own category. Acceptance rates were eliminated, and the weight afforded for standardized test scores and high school standing was reduced. Since U.S. News' 2018 Best Colleges list, UCR has moved from No. 124 to No. 76 overall.
Fall is college rankings season, with major publications across the U.S. publishing “best college” lists. It’s been another good season for UC Riverside, with the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 5 naming UCR No. 12 in the nation for social mobility among public and private universities in the U.S. For graduation rate, one of the Journal’s scoring categories, UCR received 98 out of a possible 100. In the overall rankings, the Journal moved UCR up 73 positions, to No. 108 out of 500 ranked universities.
In other publications’ rankings, UCR was ranked No. 16 for Pell Grant student success by Washington Monthly , and No. 37 among public universities by Forbes magazine .