Best universities in the US for physics and maths 2026

Discover the Times Higher Education rankings for the best physical science schools in the US 2026.
This list highlights the top-ranked universities for physics and maths in the US, based on the Times Higher Education Subject Rankings: Physical Sciences 2026. These rankings provide valuable insights into the leading institutions for physical sciences education and research.
A total of 161 US universities have been ranked for their excellence in teaching, research, industry collaboration, and international outlook.
The rankings are based on a rigorous methodology designed by Times Higher Education’s data experts, ensuring accuracy and reliability for students, academics, and industry leaders worldwide.

March 23 2026

Top universities for physics, chemistry and maths 2026

US Physical Science Rank 2026	Global Physical Science Rank 2026	University	Overall	Teaching	Research Environment	Research Quality	Industry	International Outlook
1	1	California Institute of Technology	97.2	96.6	98.2	98.1	100	89.9
=2	=2	Harvard University	96.3	93.6	98.3	97.7	99.4	90.4
=2	=2	Stanford University	96.3	96	95.1	98.6	100	89
4	4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	95.9	95.8	94.4	98.1	97.7	90.7
5	=5	Princeton University	95.8	96.9	93.4	97.4	99.9	91.2
6	7	University of California, Berkeley	95.3	91.4	96.6	97.8	100	90
7	14	Yale University	90.3	88.7	88.8	94.9	73.8	87.6
8	15	The University of Chicago	89.5	89.3	89	91.6	72.9	90.8
9	16	Columbia University	89.3	84.9	86.8	94.4	83.7	92.8
10	17	University of California, Los Angeles	88.3	83.3	91.1	92.6	72.6	84.9
11	18	Cornell University	87.5	84.7	84.2	94.1	68.4	88.4
12	25	University of Washington	81.7	74.3	78.4	90.4	70.4	85.6
13	=27	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	81.5	79.3	77.7	86.2	73.6	84.2
14	31	University of Pennsylvania	80.2	71.8	71.5	92	79	87
15	33	University of California, Santa Barbara	78.7	58.7	71.8	95	98.9	87.9
=16	=35	Johns Hopkins University	78.2	61.3	73.1	92.2	83.7	88.8
=16	=35	Northwestern University	78.2	62.6	69.5	94.3	81.8	86.8
18	39	University of Texas at Austin	76.7	64.2	73	91.9	81.5	60.4
19	44	University of Wisconsin-Madison	74.6	64.5	69.9	83.9	74.5	84.2
20	45	University of Arizona	74	56.7	62.3	92.8	99	75.3
21	46	New York University	73.7	59	63.9	88.9	68.7	92.2
22	47	University of California, San Diego	73.5	58.4	62.2	89.7	99.5	77.6
23	50	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	72.7	60.1	66.6	88.3	71.4	66.6
24	=51	University of Colorado Boulder	72.5	64.3	68.4	82.2	84.4	64.7
25	53	Duke University	72	61.2	59.1	85.4	92.4	83.2
26	=54	Georgia Institute of Technology	71.9	52.4	62.9	90.4	77	84.4
27	56	Brown University	71.6	64.8	53.1	88.7	65.3	84.3
28	58	Penn State (Main campus)	70.7	59.3	63	85.2	69.9	70.8
29	61	Carnegie Mellon University	69.6	45.1	53.5	96.7	67.6	87.8
30	=62	University of Maryland, College Park	69.2	50.9	61.3	92.3	69.2	54.4
31	=75	Rice University	65.9	51.4	45.7	87.3	69.4	86.5
32	79	University of California, Irvine	65.4	39.6	46.2	92.3	81.8	90.4
33	84	Purdue University West Lafayette	64.6	54.6	52.9	74.5	89.4	82.4
34	87	University of Minnesota	64.2	50.6	53.4	78.9	98.7	63.9
35	=88	University of Massachusetts	63.9	45.6	39.1	89.9	75.2	88.6
=36	=93	Michigan State University	63.6	46	47.4	83.2	69.5	88.1
=36	=93	University of California, Davis	63.6	44.6	47.6	83.8	73	88
38	98	University of California, Santa Cruz	62.4	38.6	42.5	91.3	62.8	82.3
=39	101–125	Boston University	59.4–62.0	40.8	40.6	86	68.9	84.3
=39	101–125	Ohio State University (Main campus)	59.4–62.0	44.8	43.7	80.4	68.7	82.6
=39	101–125	Stony Brook University	59.4–62.0	44	46.7	81.2	62.6	90.8
=39	101–125	Texas A&M University	59.4–62.0	43.9	53.4	75.4	70.8	76.8
=43	126–150	Arizona State University (Tempe)	56.7–59.2	35.5	34.4	84.2	66.9	79.6
=43	126–150	University of Hawai’i at Mānoa	56.7–59.2	32.4	39	83.7	66.2	78.4
=43	126–150	University of Southern California	56.7–59.2	37.2	38.1	81	71.8	75
=43	126–150	Washington University in St Louis	56.7–59.2	36.8	33.6	82.1	65.7	85.7
=47	151–175	University of California, Riverside	54.9–56.6	31.2	26.6	88	66.8	83.7
=47	151–175	University of Florida	54.9–56.6	35.8	39.7	77.7	72.9	62.7
=47	151–175	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	54.9–56.6	40.7	42.1	73.8	73.4	57.8
=47	151–175	University of Rochester	54.9–56.6	37.9	38	75	71.4	87.7
=47	151–175	Vanderbilt University	54.9–56.6	32.7	26.9	87.6	68	80.3
=52	201–250	Colorado State University, Fort Collins	50.6–53.6	39.7	31.2	71.5	66.4	60.3
=52	201–250	Florida State University	50.6–53.6	38.6	31.4	69.2	67.7	86.9
=52	201–250	Indiana University	50.6–53.6	33.2	25.7	70.5	93.8	84.2
=52	201–250	North Carolina State University	50.6–53.6	39.5	38.9	67.6	72.9	70.3
=52	201–250	Northeastern University, US	50.6–53.6	24.1	23.6	81.9	74	84.9
=52	201–250	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	50.6–53.6	30.9	27	80.6	66.8	71.6
=52	201–250	University of Notre Dame	50.6–53.6	40	31.8	69.7	65.4	83.9
=52	201–250	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus	50.6–53.6	29.9	21.9	86.4	68.6	59
=52	201–250	University of Virginia (Main campus)	50.6–53.6	32.7	21.3	79.4	68.5	77.6
=52	201–250	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	50.6–53.6	30	28.8	76.2	68	72.4
=62	251–300	Boston College	47.7–50.5	29.8	17.6	76.1	60.5	82.3
=62	251–300	Colorado School of Mines	47.7–50.5	31.9	32.5	76.3	79.9	38.3
=62	251–300	Dartmouth College	47.7–50.5	46.1	22.4	62.1	64.4	68.1
=62	251–300	Emory University	47.7–50.5	31.7	24.3	75.5	71.2	79.6
=62	251–300	George Washington University	47.7–50.5	31.2	20	73.9	63	88.2
=62	251–300	Rutgers University–New Brunswick	47.7–50.5	27.8	25	78.3	68.9	76
=62	251–300	Syracuse University	47.7–50.5	30.1	14.2	78	60.2	85.2
=62	251–300	Tufts University	47.7–50.5	23.9	19.4	79.4	65.6	80
=62	251–300	University of Delaware	47.7–50.5	29.9	26.2	70.2	83.2	86.2
=62	251–300	University of Houston	47.7–50.5	31	19.9	72.1	65.8	88.9
=62	251–300	University of Illinois Chicago	47.7–50.5	23.8	27.4	78.3	70.1	66.6
=62	251–300	University of Utah	47.7–50.5	35.6	31.4	71.2	69.8	49.6
=74	301–400	Brandeis University	43.0–47.6	23.6	15.7	74.9	51.5	93.3
=74	301–400	Case Western Reserve University	43.0–47.6	24.1	18.2	67.8	66.6	77.3
=74	301–400	Drexel University	43.0–47.6	32.3	14.2	77.3	66.1	63.7
=74	301–400	Iowa State University	43.0–47.6	36.1	28.3	59.8	84	59
=74	301–400	Kansas State University	43.0–47.6	27.6	17	65.6	61.2	88.4
=74	301–400	Louisiana State University	43.0–47.6	29.1	15.7	68.9	60	64.6
=74	301–400	Missouri University of Science and Technology	43.0–47.6	21.4	20	65.9	68.4	80.1
=74	301–400	Oklahoma State University	43.0–47.6	25.2	15.1	69.1	53.2	80.1
=74	301–400	University at Buffalo	43.0–47.6	24.9	17.5	71.6	66	83.8
=74	301–400	University of California, Merced	43.0–47.6	24.4	17	80	45.9	47.1
=74	301–400	University of Central Florida	43.0–47.6	23.2	26.3	68.8	72.4	47.4
=74	301–400	University of Connecticut	43.0–47.6	31.4	17.5	72.7	66.3	83.3
=74	301–400	University of Iowa	43.0–47.6	33.1	27.7	62.7	64.1	81.5
=74	301–400	University of Miami	43.0–47.6	29.1	24.5	60.3	52.9	78.5
=74	301–400	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	43.0–47.6	29.2	22.5	67.7	70.7	83.6
=74	301–400	University of South Florida	43.0–47.6	24.6	16.3	75.8	71.2	82.4
=74	301–400	University of Texas at Dallas	43.0–47.6	24.1	15.3	76.1	71.2	75
=74	301–400	Washington State University	43.0–47.6	26.4	19.6	72.2	75.9	69.8
=92	401–500	Auburn University	40.1–42.9	21.5	16.2	63.9	61.6	68.7
=92	401–500	Mississippi State University	40.1–42.9	15.3	13.9	76.7	47.8	64.2
=92	401–500	Mizzou - University of Missouri	40.1–42.9	28.8	19.9	58.4	63.5	68.7
=92	401–500	Northern Illinois University	40.1–42.9	21.7	10.1	68.8	50.1	81.1
=92	401–500	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	40.1–42.9	24.5	17.5	57.9	77.3	75.3
=92	401–500	Rochester Institute of Technology	40.1–42.9	23.8	12.6	75.8	52.9	50.7
=92	401–500	Temple University	40.1–42.9	24.5	12.4	69.5	55.8	58.1
=92	401–500	Texas Tech University	40.1–42.9	25.8	12.5	65.2	58.9	82.2
=92	401–500	The University of Tulsa	40.1–42.9	17.3	13.3	77.7	60.4	66
=92	401–500	University of Alaska Fairbanks	40.1–42.9	26.1	24.8	60.1	56.7	73.7
=92	401–500	University of Kansas	40.1–42.9	29	23.7	55.3	74.3	82.6
=92	401–500	University of Kentucky	40.1–42.9	30	14.4	59.6	63.5	66.9
=92	401–500	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	40.1–42.9	23.2	17.8	69.5	53.5	56.7
=92	401–500	University of Oregon	40.1–42.9	24.7	17.7	70.3	43	53.6
=92	401–500	University of South Carolina-Columbia	40.1–42.9	29.1	16.3	61.7	65.7	79.7
=92	401–500	University of Texas at Arlington	40.1–42.9	25.7	20.7	58.8	62.7	72
=92	401–500	University of Toledo	40.1–42.9	27	12.8	62.7	63.9	79.4
=92	401–500	Wayne State University	40.1–42.9	27.2	17	63.4	71.7	65.8
=110	501–600	American University	37.4–40.0	19.7	9	73.6	32.7	61.5
=110	501–600	Florida Atlantic University	37.4–40.0	22.8	10.4	59.8	50.3	72.9
=110	501–600	Florida International University	37.4–40.0	22.7	17	62.7	49.4	53.8
=110	501–600	George Mason University	37.4–40.0	19.7	17	66.6	45.6	62.2
=110	501–600	Illinois Institute of Technology	37.4–40.0	20.8	11.3	63.7	63.5	70.2
=110	501–600	Lehigh University	37.4–40.0	22.8	14.2	59.1	64.1	74.6
=110	501–600	New Jersey Institute of Technology	37.4–40.0	25.5	12.9	54	48.5	89.5
=110	501–600	New Mexico State University (Main campus)	37.4–40.0	27.2	18	53.6	59.3	69.6
=110	501–600	SUNY University at Albany	37.4–40.0	18	14.4	60.2	66.2	75.3
=110	501–600	Stevens Institute of Technology	37.4–40.0	18.3	20.6	54.7	72	73.1
=110	501–600	The University of Alabama	37.4–40.0	18.2	15.8	63.1	53.5	59.8
=110	501–600	University of Georgia (USA)	37.4–40.0	26.5	18.8	50.4	63.1	71
=110	501–600	University of Rhode Island	37.4–40.0	27.5	22.2	55.9	52	66.3
=110	501–600	University of South Dakota	37.4–40.0	22	9.8	67.1	33.7	59.4
=110	501–600	University of Wyoming	37.4–40.0	24.1	11.6	70.4	56.2	44.7
=110	501–600	Wake Forest University	37.4–40.0	29.6	11	55.4	64.2	73.1
=110	501–600	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	37.4–40.0	22.7	11	63.4	51.6	57.2
=127	601–800	Clarkson University	32.8–37.3	29.3	12.1	48.7	62.1	84.2
=127	601–800	Florida Institute of Technology	32.8–37.3	19.6	12.1	54.7	39.8	58.6
=127	601–800	Georgetown University	32.8–37.3	26.1	14.5	44.6	60.9	57.7
=127	601–800	Montana State University	32.8–37.3	19.8	18.4	58.2	58.2	41.7
=127	601–800	Ohio University (Main campus)	32.8–37.3	23.6	14.1	52.5	54.7	59.9
=127	601–800	Old Dominion University	32.8–37.3	16.3	12.4	62.3	50.2	41.5
=127	601–800	South Dakota Mines	32.8–37.3	18.1	14.1	56.2	52.6	52.9
=127	601–800	The Catholic University of America	32.8–37.3	28.1	17.7	51.6	49.7	60.6
=127	601–800	The University of Texas at San Antonio	32.8–37.3	22.2	11.9	61.9	49.2	51.7
=127	601–800	Tulane University	32.8–37.3	21.3	15.7	46.5	55.9	66.3
=127	601–800	University of Arkansas	32.8–37.3	22.9	16.5	54.7	62.6	44.6
=127	601–800	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	32.8–37.3	22.6	13.2	52.3	43.1	51.3
=127	601–800	William & Mary	32.8–37.3	23.4	16.1	57.3	46.4	43.4
=140	801–1000	Baylor University	27.5–32.7	22.9	11.9	42.5	37.3	61.6
=140	801–1000	Clark University	27.5–32.7	17.3	11.1	48.8	31.9	78.8
=140	801–1000	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	27.5–32.7	17.9	12.6	47.2	49.3	58.6
=140	801–1000	Georgia State University	27.5–32.7	19.5	11.1	42	47.4	73.6
=140	801–1000	Portland State University	27.5–32.7	20.4	11.1	40.1	49.1	42.7
=140	801–1000	Rowan University	27.5–32.7	19.5	8.1	45.5	33.8	45.4
=140	801–1000	San Diego State University	27.5–32.7	15.1	8.3	47.2	46.8	44.7
=140	801–1000	Southern Illinois University Carbondale	27.5–32.7	24.9	9.5	38.7	50.3	64.2
=140	801–1000	Texas State University	27.5–32.7	12.4	15.3	45.9	41.7	59.3
=140	801–1000	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus	27.5–32.7	13.1	14.8	54.7	64.8	37.2
=140	801–1000	University of Denver	27.5–32.7	22.3	11.2	48	38.8	63.9
=140	801–1000	University of Memphis	27.5–32.7	21.6	9.2	37.9	34.2	62.7
=140	801–1000	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	27.5–32.7	15	12.3	46.8	46.8	43.6
=140	801–1000	University of Texas at El Paso	27.5–32.7	17.6	15.5	39.3	39.6	61.6
=140	801–1000	Virginia Commonwealth University	27.5–32.7	21.9	16.3	38.3	79.4	40.5
=155	1001–1250	Central Michigan University	20.9–27.4	22.4	11.8	34.7	36.4	52.5
=155	1001–1250	Georgia Southern University	20.9–27.4	15.8	7.8	35.1	46	52
=155	1001–1250	Morgan State University	20.9–27.4	19.4	9.4	23.6	19.5	73.8
=155	1001–1250	Oakland University	20.9–27.4	21.1	10.2	23.8	49.1	60.2
=155	1001–1250	Saint Louis University	20.9–27.4	23.1	10	32.2	52.7	60
=155	1001–1250	University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	20.9–27.4	10.2	6.7	48.9	20	53.9
161	1251+	University of Nebraska Omaha	9.1–20.8	15.1	7.2	22.9	22.5	32.3

Key insights into the top universities in the US for physics and maths 2026

The California Institute of Technology takes the first place position in this year's table for physical sciences, followed by Harvard University and Stanford University in joint second.
There are 161 US universities ranked in total.
The University of California, Berkeley achieves a top score for its links to industry
Four Ivy League universities are ranked in the top 10.
The physical sciences ranking ranks universities that offer courses in physics, chemistry, astronomy, maths, statistics, geology, environmental, earth and marine sciences.

Choosing the right university for physical sciences in the US

The physical sciences include mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, environmental sciences and Earth and marine sciences. Courses in the physical sciences differ across universities and countries, but the core focus is on the understanding and application of mathematics in the natural world through practical and lab work.

In the US, studying physical sciences at the undergraduate level usually takes the form of a four-year course, beginning with a foundation in calculus, physics and chemistry. After the first year, students can choose more specialised areas of study, and through the country’s major-minor system a number of scientific disciplines can often be explored simultaneously. Students are also encouraged to engage in research projects throughout their studies.

Postgraduate courses are focused on more specific subject areas, where students undertake research in their chosen area of interest or join a research group within their institution.

Choosing the best school for physics, chemistry or maths is a crucial step for prospective students. The Times Higher Education Physical Science Rankings help identify universities with strong reputations in teaching, research, and industry collaboration.

The table for the best universities for physical sciences in the US was derived from data collected for the THE World University Subject Rankings. The results are calculated using 18 performance indicators underlying five metrics: research environment, teaching (the learning environment), research quality, industry and international outlook. For more insights and a detailed breakdown of our ranking methodology, visit our methodology page. Use the ranking table above to explore the right institution for you.

Best universities in the US for physics and maths 2026

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Top universities for physics, chemistry and maths 2026

Key insights into the top universities in the US for physics and maths 2026

Choosing the right university for physical sciences in the US

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