Irvine's educational excellence continues as UCI rises to 7th best public university ranking
By Irvine City News staff
The national accolades for UCI continue to accrue, as U.S. News & World Report rated the university the 7th best public university in the country. UCI also came in at No. 33 overall for public and private American universities in the 2019 Best Colleges Rankings. In a sign of the continuing strength of the state of California, the six schools that rank higher than UCI among public universities are: 1. UCLA 2. UC Berkeley 3. University of Virginia 4. University of Michigan 5. UC Santa Barbara 6. University of North Carolina The rankings of 7th for public university and 33rd overall are the highest ever for UCI since the publication began reviewing colleges back in 1983. UCI had ranked 9th among public universities in the previous three years of the annual rankings. "We are delighted that UCI has once again been recognized as one of the premier universities in the nation," said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. "This year's rankings – which are the highest in our entire history – are testament to the extraordinary contributions made every day by our outstanding faculty, staff, students and Anteater community." The rankings are based on 16 measures of academic excellence. Evaluators considered 1,608 institutions this year. The U.S. News report also ranked UCI 35th in business in the country and 43rd in engineering for undergraduate programs. U.S. News also reviews and ranks the best colleges for veterans. UCI placed 13th among all U.S. universities, a jump of three spots over last year. This recognition follows UCI being named a top veteran-friendly school in the summer 2018 issue of U.S. Veterans Magazine . The prestigious U.S. News rankings are just the latest in good news at UCI. As reported in recent issues of Irvine City News, UCI ranks third on Money magazine's 2018 list of the best colleges in the U.S. for its accessible, high-quality education and alumni success; Forbes named UCI No. 4 on its America's Best Value Colleges list, and UCI tops The New York Times College Access Index of U.S. universities "doing the most for the American dream" for its commitment to upward mobility.