This article was originally reported in June 2025. The 2026 edition of the ranking is covered in the latest update.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison ranked 30th in the world and 20th in the United States in the 2025 Global 2000 list published by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), which evaluated 21,462 universities. That placed UW–Madison in the top 0.2% of the institutions assessed. By category, it ranked 38th in the world for education, 115th for employability, 34th for faculty and 45th for research. “It’s icing on the cake when our quality is noticed in university rankings,” said Provost Charles Isbell (UW–Madison News, June 2, 2025).
How the CWUR Ranking Works
CWUR says it ranks universities without opinion surveys or data submitted by the universities themselves. Its score combines four areas (CWUR: Methodology):
| Area | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 25% | Academic success of a university’s alumni, relative to its size |
| Employability | 25% | Professional success of its alumni, relative to its size |
| Faculty | 10% | Faculty members who have received top academic distinctions |
| Research | 40% | Research output, high-quality publications, influence and citations (10% each) |
Because the education, employability and faculty measures count major prizes and distinctions won by a university’s alumni and faculty, CWUR tends to reward old, research-intensive universities with long records of such honors. It says little about class sizes, teaching quality or cost.
How UW–Madison Compares Across Rankings
Different rankings measure different things, so the same university can land in very different places. According to Forward Pathway’s ranking database, UW–Madison is:
- No. 34 among national universities in the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, up from No. 36 in the 2026 edition;
- No. 35 in the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ShanghaiRanking);
- No. 53 in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings;
- No. 60 in the 2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities ranking;
- No. 131 in the 2027 QS World University Rankings.
Rankings that weight research output and prizes, such as CWUR and ShanghaiRanking, place UW–Madison highest. QS, which gives heavy weight to reputation surveys, the faculty-student ratio and international diversity, places it lowest. In 2025, UW–Madison also cited the new STAGE World University Rankings, which placed it 41st worldwide using weights for student outcomes (25%), teaching quality (20%), access and equity (15%), global impact (20%), and safety and bias (20%) (UW–Madison News).
Latest Update: CWUR 2026
In the 2026 edition of the CWUR Global 2000 list, in which 21,291 institutions were ranked, UW–Madison moved up one place to 29th in the world and stayed 20th in the United States. Harvard, MIT and Stanford were the top three, and eight of the world top 10 were American universities (CWUR World University Rankings 2026).
How International Students Should Use These Rankings
- Match the ranking to your goal. If you are choosing a Ph.D. or research-focused program, research-weighted lists such as CWUR and ShanghaiRanking are informative. For undergraduate study, U.S. News national rankings and data on graduation rates, class sizes and costs say more about the student experience.
- Look at the subject level. A university’s overall position can hide large differences between departments. Check program and subject rankings for your intended field.
- Do not over-read small moves. A change of one or two places from year to year usually reflects data and method changes rather than a real change in quality.
- Remember what rankings leave out: cost, location, campus life, career services and support for international students.
UW–Madison is a large public research university: according to the latest IPEDS data, it enrolled 51,044 students in fall 2025, 7,955 of them international. See our UW–Madison profile and the US Colleges Ranking for admissions, cost and ranking data.