UW rises to No. 2 U.S. public university in latest TIME Magazine rankings
TIME Magazine named the University of Wisconsin-Madison the 20th best university in the world and the 2nd best public university in the United States in their ‘World’s Top Universities of 2026’ rankings.
UW-Madison rose seven positions from 2025, leapfrogging the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Los Angeles. The University of Michigan took the top U.S. public university spot.
The United States and the United Kingdom continue to dominate academic leaderboards, with Chinese universities rising in the ranks for innovation and economic impact.
TIME’s rankings scored universities in three key aspects: academic capacity and performance, innovation and economic impact and global engagement.
