UC San Diego kept its No. 4 ranking among U.S. public universities in the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities, released Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, which publishes the annual assessment, also placed the La Jolla campus 14th among all U.S. universities and 20th globally. The ARWU evaluates more than 2,500 institutions each year and publishes only the top 1,000. It scores them on indicators including Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals won by alumni and faculty, highly cited researchers, papers in Nature and Science, and per-capita academic performance.

U.S. universities claimed eight of the top 10 spots and 14 of the top 20, according to Forbes. Harvard led the global list, followed by Stanford and MIT.

Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla called the ranking "a reflection of what makes UC San Diego truly exceptional … the brilliance and dedication of our faculty, students and alumni."

The university highlighted a string of faculty and alumni honors alongside the ranking. Alumnus Fred Ramsdell, who graduated in 1983 with a degree in biochemistry and cell biology, shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with colleagues Mary Brunkow and Shimon Sakaguchi. Their work identified the gene Foxp3, which controls cells that prevent the immune system from attacking the body's own tissues. Several biotech companies are now testing Foxp3-related cells in patients, according to the university, aiming for cures for autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis.

Brandon Som, associate professor of literature and a 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, received a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship. Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Mark H. Thiemens won the Magellanic Premium, described as the oldest scientific medal in the Americas. Scripps Institution of Oceanography professor emeritus Farooq Azam was named a Kyoto Prize laureate for discovering the "microbial loop." Computer science and mathematics professor Daniel M. Kane took the 2026 Gödel Prize, and distinguished professor of philosophy Nancy Cartwright received the 2026 Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Humanities.

On the applied-research side, the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the Halıcıoğlu School for Data Science and Computing will test a new power system for AI data centers under an $8.48 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The project aims to make SDSC one of the first operational AI data centers in the country to run a new power architecture that cuts energy waste and improves grid reliability, according to the university.

Catriona Jamieson, director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute and professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, discovered rebecsinib, an investigational drug targeting the ADAR1 gene involved in more than 20 cancers. A clinical trial is underway at UC San Diego. The drug has been studied aboard the International Space Station through NASA-funded experiments.

UC San Diego also ranked No. 7 among U.S. public universities in the Center for World University Rankings, the university said.