Washington Monthly's “2026 Best Colleges for Research" has ranked UC Riverside No. 30 among public universities for 2026. UCR was No. 52 overall in the research ranking, which considers research expenditures, PhDs awarded, and faculty awards.
The publication considered 142 public and private universities for the research list, which was one of four rankings lists Washington Monthly released this week.
In its most comprehensive list, named “Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars,” UCR was the No. 50 public university and No. 101 overall, placing UCR in the top 7% of U.S. universities. The list considered a total of 1,504 universities, 546 of them public.
In one of eight subcategories of “Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars,” UCR ranked No. 14 among the 546 publics for access, and No. 21 in the overall list of 1,504. Access speaks to how well colleges provide access to “nonwealthy” students. To determine the access ranking, Washington Monthly weighs the number of Pell Grant recipients, and Pell enrollment performance. Pell Grants are college assistance grants for low-income students.
On a list of the top 100 Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or HSIs, UCR is distinguished as having the No. 2 overall graduation and transfer rate (79%) and the No. 5 graduation and transfer rate among its Hispanic students (72%). The HSI category evaluates schools based on data collected with Excelencia in Education, of which UCR is a member.
The Washington Monthly rankings do not focus on student performance, but rather reward universities for serving low-income students. The list ranks universities based on four broad categories: affordability (price), outcomes (eight-year graduation rates and post-graduation earnings), service, and access.
Fall is rankings season, with U.S. News & World Report set to release its list on September 22. For five of the past seven years, UCR has been ranked by U.S. News as the No. 1 college in the country for social mobility, which considers the degree to which a university elevates its graduates’ standard of living. U.S. News also ranked UCR the No. 36 public in the nation this past year. UCR also achieved a high placement in the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse survey this past year, having been ranked No. 24 among public universities.
As with most college rankings, Washington Monthly’s data is largely a curation of information from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or IPEDS, from the National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS is the product of an annual survey from every college, university, and technical or vocational institution. Institutions that receive federal financial aid are compelled to participate.
