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UCLA regains No. 1 spot in U.S. News & World Report public universities rankings
Daily Bruin • • nation
Key Points:
- UCLA regained its position as the No. 1 public university in the U.S., tying with UC Berkeley in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings after falling to second place last year.
- The rankings consider factors such as graduation and retention rates, peer assessments, financial resources, faculty salaries, and Pell Grant recipient performance.
- UCLA's drop from the top spot last year followed the Trump administration's freeze of $584 million in federal research grants due to allegations involving affirmative action, antisemitism, and sports participation policies, which Chancellor Julio Frenk denied.
- Most of the frozen federal research grants were restored by a federal judge in late 2025, who also ruled against further freezes on the University of California's grants.
- Despite regaining the top public university status, UCLA fell from 17th to 20th place in the national universities rankings, tying with UC Berkeley and the University of Notre Dame.
