U.S. News Releases 2026 Graduate School Rankings: Purdue, UC San Diego Among Top Performers
U.S. News & World Report released its 2026 rankings of America's best graduate schools. Purdue University placed 12 programs in the top 10, while UC San Diego's medical school reached Tier 1 status for both research and primary care.
U.S. News & World Report published its annual list of America's top graduate schools for 2026, with several universities celebrating major wins.
Purdue University had a standout year with 12 graduate programs ranking in the top 10. The programs span engineering, agriculture, and health fields, highlighting Purdue's research strength across multiple areas.
UC San Diego also performed well, with its School of Medicine maintaining its Tier 1 ranking for research while newly achieving Tier 1 status for primary care. The university's Rady School of Management saw its executive MBA program debut in the rankings.
LaMont Jones Jr., managing editor at U.S. News, discussed the rankings on CBS Saturday Morning, explaining how the publication evaluates schools using various data points and algorithms.
The rankings cover graduate programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine, and other fields. Universities use these rankings to attract students and faculty, while prospective students rely on them to compare programs.
These rankings help students pick graduate programs and can affect how much their degrees are worth to employers. High rankings also bring more funding and top professors to universities, which can lower costs for students.
Students will use these rankings to make application decisions for fall 2026 enrollment.
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