Published: May 26, 2021

CU Boulder ranks No. 44 overall among global universities, according to the newly released 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), down slightly from the No. 38 spot it held in 2019. Among U.S. universities in the publication, CU Boulder ranks No. 27, down slightly from No. 25 in 2019.

Infrographic showing CU Boulder's rankings in the Academic Ranking of World Universities

Published annually by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy since 2003, ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank 1,000 world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, the number of highly cited researchers and the number of articles published in high-impact scientific journals, such as Nature and Science.

CU Boulder's earth science and atmospheric science disciplines remained ranked No. 1 globally in ShanghaiRanking's companion report, the 2021 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS). The university also scored highly in a dozen other academic categories in those rankings, highlighting the breadth of impactful CU Boulder research. 

The complete rankings and detailed ARWU methodologies can be found on the ShangaiRanking website.