The University of Wisconsin-Madison moved up one spot in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings to 12th among public colleges, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
The university also rose three places to 36th overall out of 438 universities across the country. UW-Madison was ranked 39th overall in 2025 and 35th in 2024.
In its findings, U.S. News & World Report said UW-Madison is a top university for several undergraduate programs including business, economics, engineering, nursing, psychology and computer science.
For computer science, the university ranked 16th overall and ninth among public universities.
Its undergraduate real estate program in the Wisconsin School of Business retained the No. 1 nationwide ranking for the fourth straight year.
UW-Madison’s undergraduate nursing program ranked eighth overall and fifth out of all public universities.
