UC Berkeley graduate programs take top spots in latest ‘U.S. News’ rankings
More than 50 Berkeley programs landed in the top 25 in their fields.
UC Berkeley
April 7, 2026
UC Berkeley remains a powerhouse for prestigious graduate programs, with multiple disciplines earning top marks in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.
The 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings were released today (Tuesday, April 7), evaluating thousands of programs and disciplines from hundreds of universities around the country. Berkeley programs in engineering, business and public policy retained their top rankings, while chemistry was named the No. 1 program in a category that scored some science Ph.D. programs for the first time in recent years.
The College of Engineering tied for top ranks in civil engineering; computer engineering; and electrical, electronic and communications engineering. It ranked No. 1 for environmental/environmental health engineering.
At the Goldman School of Public Policy, the public policy analysis program was rated No. 1, while the part-time MBA program at the Haas School of Business again tied for the top spot.
Every year, the magazine uses surveys to assess six major academic areas: business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing. Those fields are evaluated with a range of data provided by the schools, as well as through expert input. This year, U.S. News published new rankings for graduate programs in several health fields and also ranked several science fields for the first time in recent years — biology, biostatistics, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics and physics.
U.S. News last year ranked several Berkeley disciplines No. 1 in the Division of Social Sciences as well as English in the Division of Arts & Humanities. It did not update those rankings this year, nor does it rank all programs every year. Though UC Berkeley Law does not actively participate in the U.S. News rankings process, several of its programs still scored highly, and the school recently received high marks in a number of other surveys.
More than 50 Berkeley programs landed in the top 25 in their fields, with more than 40, spanning public health to education, earning a spot in the top 10 of their fields:
Biological sciences (No. 3 overall, tie)
Biostatistics (No. 7 overall)
Business (No. 10 overall)
- No. 4 in executive programs (tie)
- No. 1 in part-time MBA programs (tie)
- No. 6 in accounting programs (tie)
- No. 5 in business analytics programs (tie)
- No. 4 in entrepreneurship programs (tie)
- No. 6 in finance programs (tie)
- No. 5 in international programs (tie)
- No. 7 in management programs
- No. 5 in marketing programs (tie)
- No. 6 in production-operations programs (tie)
- No. 2 in real estate programs
- No. 2 in supply chain management programs (tie)
Chemistry (No. 1 overall, tie)
Computer science (No. 4 overall)
- No. 4 in artificial intelligence
- No. 9 in programming language
- No. 3 in systems
- No. 2 in theory
Earth Sciences (No. 2 overall)
Education (No. 6 overall, tie)
- No. 10 in education policy programs (tie)
Engineeering (No. 3 overall)
- No. 8 in biomedical engineering/bioengineering programs
- No. 2 in chemical engineering programs
- No. 1 in civil engineering programs (tie)
- No. 1 in computer engineering programs (tie)
- No. 1 in electrical/electronic/communications engineering programs (tie)
- No. 1 in environmental/environmental health engineering programs
- No. 2 in industrial/manufacturing/systems engineering programs (tie)
- No. 3 in materials engineering programs (tie)
- No. 3 in mechanical engineering programs (tie)
- No. 8 in nuclear engineering programs
Mathematics (No. 2 overall, tie)
Physics (No. 5 overall, tie)
Public affairs (No. 3 overall, tie)
- No. 5 in environmental policy and management
- No. 1 in public policy analysis (tie)
- No. 3 in social policy
Public health (No. 6 overall, tie)
- No. 9 in environmental health
- No. 9 in epidemiology
- No. 9 in health policy and management
- No. 8 in social and behavioral sciences
Statistics (No. 2 overall)