updated July 11, 2017

A quick look at UCI's recent rankings on a number of scales provides evidence of what many of us already knew: UCI is an up-and-coming place to be. A snapshot:

• #1 university that does most for low-income students in terms of access, affordability and student success, The New York Times College Access Index
• #1 university for beach lovers, Money magazine
• #7 best public university, Money magazine
• #7 best college for your money, Money magazine (#5 among public universities)
• #7 in the nation for awarding bachelor's degrees to minority students, Diverse Issues in Higher Education
• #9 best public university in the U.S., U.S. News & World Report
• Top 10 "Cool School" for sustainability, Sierra magazine
• Top 10 best value college in terms of tuition, quality and graduation success rates and post-grad earnings, Forbes
• #16 among U.S. four year universities delivering the most value, Money magazine

As a school, social sciences ranks 45th in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities in Social Science, compiled by TheBestSchools.org.

Within the school, graduate programs are all highly ranked. The most recent programs to be evaluated (not all program rankings are done each year) are sociology, psychology, political science and economics by U.S. News and World Report. All four earned top 25 rankings among public U.S. universities and top 50 rankings overall:

• Sociology, 12th among public universities, 23rd overall
• Psychology, 19th among public universities, 36th overall (administered by both the Department of Cognitive Sciences in Social Sciences and the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior in Social Ecology)
• Political science, 24th among public universities, 45th overall
• Economics, 24th among public universities, 47th overall

Recent Academic Analytics data places five of social sciences’ eight departments in the top 10% nationally in terms of scholarly impact, measured by citations. This includes Chicano/Latino studies (measured against all ethnic and area studies programs), economics, logic and philosophy of science, political science and sociology, with sociology and LPS in the top 3%. Economics has been busting through the rankings recently, too: the St. Louis Federal Reserve has ranked it among the top economics departments globally, with eight UCI economists recognized as being among the top 5% in the world.

Other social sciences graduate programs evaluated in prior review cycles include:

• • Anthropology: 8-29 (Center for Public Anthropology & National Research Council; ranked within ranges; individuals rankings not provided)
  • Logic & Philosophy of Science (Philosophical Gourmet Report with multiple subfield rankings):
    • #1 (tie): Philosophy of Mathematics
    • #2 (tie): Philosophy of Physics
    • #2 (tie): Philosophy of Science
    • #4 (tie): Decision Theory, Game Theory, Rational Choice, and Formal Epistemology
    • #4 (tie): Philosophy of Social Science
    • #6 (tie): Philosophical Logic
    • #10 (tie): Mathematical Logic
    • #10 (tie): Philosophy of Biology

Finally, the School of Social Sciences was recently recognized in Diverse Issues in Higher Education (September 23, 2015) for being #12 nationally in Hispanic undergraduate degree conferrals and #15 in Hispanic master’s degrees awarded.

Zot!

Check out U.S. News & World Report’s latest graduate program rankings online at http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools. Click on http://www.publicanthropology.org to learn more about the Center for Public Anthropology rankings. To view the Philosophical Gourmet Report, visit http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.asp.

-pictured: Genesis Delgado, 2016-17 recipient of the Presidential Public Service Fellowship