Published: Sept. 13, 2021

Released this morning, the University of Colorado Boulder’s undergraduate offerings take the No. 42 spot among public institutions (No. 99 overall, including public, private and for-profit universities) in U.S. News & World Report’s national “Best Colleges” rankings for 2022.

The data represent a long tradition of excellence reflected in marks from the publication—a showcase of CU Boulder’s top-tier academics.

Several specialty areas ranked in the top-20 range among public institutions for 2022:

  • CU Boulder's undergraduate business program at the Leeds School of Business placed 20th among public universities (or 30th overall).
  • The university's undergraduate engineering program at the College of Engineering and Applied Science came in at 18th among public institutions whose highest degree is a doctorate (or 31st overall).
    • Additionally in engineering, CU Boulder placed:
      • No. 6 among public institutions for its aerospace engineering program in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences (10th overall).
      • No. 9 among public institutions for its environmental engineering program (15th overall).
      • No. 14 among public institutions for its chemical engineering program among public institutions (22nd overall).
      • No. 17 among public institutions for its civil engineering program (27th overall).
      • No. 18 among public institutions for its computer science program (37th overall).
        • No. 14 among public institutions for its artificial intelligence specialty (26th overall).
      • No. 18 among public institutions for its mechanical engineering program (30th overall).
      • No. 19 among public institutions for its electrical engineering program (31st overall).

The latest "best colleges" edition assesses 1,466 U.S. bachelor's degree-granting institutions on 17 measures of academic quality, according to U.S. News & World Report. See more onlineU.S. News & World Report typically releases its annual rankings for global programs in the fall and graduate programs in the spring.

U.S. News and World Report 2022 rankings

Business: #20 publics/#30 overall

Engineering: #18 publics/#31 overall

  • Aerospace engineering: #6 publics/#10 overall

  • Environmental engineering: #9 publics/#15 overall

  • Chemical engineering: #14 publics/#22 overall

  • Civil engineering: #17 publics/#27 overal

  • Computer science: #18/#37 overall

    • Artificial intelligence: #14/#26 overall
  • Mechanical engineering: #18 publics/#30 overal

  • Electrical engineering: #19 publics/#31 overall