National Honors

Multiple graduate programs land top rankings from U.S. News & World Report

In its new ranking of leading graduate and professional programs at American universities, U.S. News & World Report magazine has rated two of UC Santa Barbara’s programs among the top 10 in the nation.

In the 2023 U.S. News list of “Best Graduate Schools,” UC Santa Barbara’s materials program is ranked No. 2 among public institutions and No. 5 overall. The chemical engineering program, also part of the College of Engineering, was ranked No. 9 overall and No. 6 among public universities. The College of Engineering itself was ranked No. 14 among public universities.

Also updated for this edition of the report, among several other disciplines, were rankings in earth sciences, physics, psychology and social work. UC Santa Barbara placed highly in each of these areas.

The UC Santa Barbara graduate program in physics overall ranked No. 11, with four specializations landing in the top 10: quantum (No. 6), elementary particles/field/string theory (No. 7), condensed matter (No. 8), and cosmology/relativity/gravity (No. 8).

Within the field of psychology, UC Santa Barbara’s graduate specialization in social psychology ranked ninth nationwide. Within sociology, a graduate specialization in sex and gender ranked third, while a specialization in the sociology of culture tied for tenth.

A graduate program in geology, within the Department of Earth Science, ranked No. 5.

“The Graduate Division is proud of the departments that ranked so highly, which is a major accomplishment given the relatively small size of our graduate population,” said Leila J. Rupp, Interim Anne and Michael Towbes Graduate Dean. “We are also proud of the departments that are building their programs, or working in innovative fields that are not ranked, or excelling in diversity, equity and inclusion. We have a lot to celebrate.”

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