The University of Wisconsin–Madison ranked among the top 40 institutions in the country for undergraduate education for the fourth consecutive year, according to the 2026 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings released today.
UW–Madison was ranked 36th overall out of 438 public and private doctoral institutions and 12th among public universities — up from 39th and 13th, respectively, in 2025. It also rose 42 places to 47th in the “Best Value Schools” ranking, which factors in financial aid and the net cost of attendance along with the overall ranking.
UW–Madison’s undergraduate nursing program ranked eighth overall and fifth among publics, and the university’s undergraduate programs also received top 20 rankings in engineering, computer sciences, business, economics and psychology. The Wisconsin School of Business’s undergraduate real estate program was ranked first nationwide for the fourth consecutive year.
“Rankings are just one of many measures of any school’s success, including ours, but I am gratified to see our excellence recognized,” says Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin. “This university is dedicated both to meeting the highest standards of educational excellence across a tremendous array of academic disciplines and to advancing the kinds of fresh ideas and innovations in teaching and learning that will shape the future of education.”
Mnookin noted the university continues to build on its excellence with the Wisconsin Research, Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Initiative, bringing new faculty into emerging, high-impact fields to expand opportunities for students, and by building and modernizing key campus facilities.
The rankings highlight colleges that excel in such areas as reputation among peers, financial value, social mobility, graduation rates, faculty resources, standardized test scores and faculty research.
Each year, U.S. News ranks specific undergraduate programs and specialty areas at universities. In the 2026 rankings, UW–Madison was rated among the best undergraduate programs for:
Undergraduate Programs
Business
19th
overall
9th among publics
Accounting: 14th
Insurance/risk management: 3rd
Management: 21st
Marketing: 6th
Production/operations management: 17th
Real estate: 1st
Supply chain management/logistics: 24th
Computer science
16th
overall
9th among publics
Artificial intelligence: 23rd
Computer systems: 6th
Programming languages: 15th
Economics
18th
overall
4th among publics
Engineering
14th
overall
7th among publics
Biomedical engineering: 25th
Chemical engineering: 13th
Civil engineering: 14th
Computer engineering: 17th
Electrical engineering: 24th
Environmental/environmental health engineering: 16th
Industrial/manufacturing/systems engineering: 6th
Materials engineering: 15th
Mechanical engineering: 22nd
Nursing
8th
overall
5th among publics
Psychology
19th
overall
8th among publics
UW-Madison was also highly ranked in several specialty rankings, reflecting UW–Madison’s commitments to affordability, serving veterans, and the undergraduate student experience:
Specialty Rankings
Student Experience
Learning communities: 17th
Study abroad: 32nd
First-year experiences: 33rd
Undergraduate research/creative projects: 34th
Best undergraduate teaching
51st
Best colleges for veterans
19th
Visit the U.S. News & World Report’s website to see the overall rankings and methodology.
