Published: Nov. 13, 2018
People look at an image of Earth projected on a sphere.

CU Boulder is ranked No. 1 in the world for geosciences, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Global Universities standings. In the four previous years, CU Boulder held the No. 2 spot for geosciences.

Also a rise in the rankings, CU Boulder takes the No. 43 spot overall in 2019 among the world’s top 1,250 universities, up from No. 44 in the 2018 standings.

Geosciences is considered the study of Earth, from its structure to the history of its formation. Studies in the field of geosciences include geology, geography, geophysics, geochemistry, climatology, oceanography and petroleum geology.

In the top 60 or better globally, CU Boulder ranks No. 27 for environment/ecology, No. 35 in physics and No. 59 in space science.

In the top 100 or better globally, CU Boulder ranks No. 72 in psychiatry/psychology, No. 87 in social sciences and public health, and No. 97 in neuroscience and behavior.

These subject-specific rankings—which are not of academic majors, departments or specific schools at universities—are based on academic research performance in those subjects, according to the publication.

Read about how U.S. News calculated the global universities subject rankings.