U. California, San Diego

Rankings

Data year Earned doctorates Full-time graduate students Total R&D expenditures
Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked
2023 22 95.5 459 14 97.9 602 8 99.2 914
2022 22 95.4 457 20 97.2 680 7 99.3 900
2021 23 95.1 447 22 97 691 10 98.5 583 7 99.4 908
2020 24 94.9 450 23 96.9 697 6 99.5 916
2019 26 94.4 447 21 97.2 696 10 98.5 589 6 99.5 914
2018 27 94 428 20 97.3 698 7 99.4 911
2017 20 95.6 425 23 96.8 684 12 98.1 575 7 99.3 898
2016 20 95.6 430 26 96.4 697 7 99.3 896
2015 22 95.1 426 27 96.3 693 10 98.4 570 5 99.6 898
2014 25 94.4 422 35 95.1 688 6 99.4 889
2013 35 93.9 555
NOTES:
  • 1. See TableBuilder for the prior year data.
  • 2. Blank white cells indicate data not available, not applicable, or institution not eligible for survey.
  • 3. Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

Data

Number of earned doctorates, by major field of study of recipients: 2023–14
Fields 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
All fields 537 545 490 512 492 471 520 521 501 481
  Science and engineering 480 481 444 457 438 410 465 441 446 412
    Science 318 327 285 309 305 285 337 326 329 306
      Life science 111 137 103 104 108 91 122 102 105 110
        Agricultural sciences . . . . 1 . . . 3 .
        Biological sciences 111 136 95 100 101 90 109 87 93 98
        Health sciences . 1 8 4 6 1 13 15 9 12
      Physical sciences and earth sciences 87 78 99 91 90 99 86 99 92 93
        Chemistry 26 31 39 30 20 22 29 31 31 31
        Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 39 29 35 35 40 45 32 43 26 33
        Physics and astronomy 22 18 25 26 30 32 25 25 35 29
      Mathematics and computer sciences 45 54 28 50 41 39 40 35 38 36
        Computer sciences 31 33 15 35 20 25 24 15 22 20
        Mathematics 14 21 13 15 21 14 16 20 16 16
      Psychology and social sciences 75 58 55 64 66 56 89 90 94 67
        Psychology 23 17 12 16 16 5 31 26 32 26
        Anthropology 1 5 9 5 4 7 4 6 8 4
        Economics 15 14 17 22 15 14 26 15 25 13
        Political science and government 9 8 7 5 14 11 9 13 14 11
        Sociology 9 6 1 6 8 6 7 11 6 7
        Other social sciences 18 8 9 10 9 13 12 19 9 6
    Engineering 162 154 159 148 133 125 128 115 117 106
      Aeronautical/astronautical engineering 7 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 .
      Biological/biomedical sciences 31 15 23 23 22 23 20 25 25 17
      Chemical engineering 6 6 6 3 2 1 6 1 . 1
      Civil engineering 1 . . 1 . . 1 2 1 .
      Electrical engineering 43 27 43 29 33 28 23 29 28 36
      Industrial engineering 1 1 . . . . . . . .
      Materials/metallurgical engineering 28 30 29 24 25 23 28 19 19 18
      Mechanical engineering 10 19 13 15 17 15 12 9 16 11
      Other engineering 35 54 44 52 33 34 37 29 26 23
  Non-science and engineering 57 64 46 55 54 61 55 80 55 69
    Education 27 16 13 18 9 15 14 22 12 22
      Education administration 12 10 7 15 6 13 4 9 5 16
      Education research 5 . . . 3 . 3 3 3 3
      Teacher education 1 . . . . . . 2 . .
      Teaching fields . 1 1 2 . 1 4 4 4 3
      Other education 9 5 5 1 . 1 3 4 . .
    Humanities 23 36 27 29 41 37 31 45 36 40
      Foreign languages & literature 1 2 1 1 . . . 1 2 1
      History 8 10 5 5 12 13 7 7 10 10
      Letters 5 2 5 3 5 5 5 7 5 11
      Other humanities and arts 9 22 16 20 24 19 19 30 19 18
    Other 7 12 6 8 4 9 10 13 7 7
      Business management/administration 2 5 4 3 1 4 2 3 1 .
      Communication 2 4 1 5 3 5 8 9 6 7
      Fields not elsewhere classified (nec) 3 3 1 . . . . 1 . .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2022–13

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Part-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2022–13

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health receiving primary support from federal sources, by field: 2022–13

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by type and primary source of support: 2022–13

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Postdoctorates in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2022–13

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Federally supported science, engineering, and health postdoctorates, by field: 2022–13

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2023–14
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
. 1,705,410 1,533,357 1,425,499 1,403,735 1,353,763 1,265,196 1,133,454 1,087,117 1,101,466 1,067,388
. 1,076 593 406 1,164 1,230 1,072 385 488 338 230
. 0 90 898 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 0 52 70 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 9,627 689 815 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 8,633 21,075 18,595 30,553 22,628 19,387 13,081 9,785 9,956 11,018
. 28,094 3,228 303 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 80,563 101,813 81,213 83,383 80,480 73,634 62,090 57,532 59,730 62,219
. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 23,530 19,971 16,253 14,973 15,857 12,588 11,232 12,064 14,397 14,661
. 1,475,264 1,294,383 1,207,533 1,212,853 1,171,266 1,105,575 1,001,236 964,783 976,614 940,517
. 1,043,913 915,619 827,370 828,401 819,167 782,882 667,478 650,484 642,371 601,452
. 975,237 854,614 762,778 765,869 754,309 724,886 623,952 612,817 607,793 565,191
. 552 674 593 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 68,124 59,696 63,846 62,532 64,858 57,996 43,526 37,667 34,578 36,257
. 0 332 153 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
. 0 303 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 5,471 6,383 5,639 4,857 5,466 4,478 5,328 5,008 5,211 5,200
. 0 8,417 13,214 13,715 13,273 16,280 11,900 11,840 11,916 9,960
. 13,623 19,075 18,645 20,113 18,932 20,042 17,837 18,909 18,632 19,349
. 23,568 31,031 22,940 19,942 20,178 19,932 16,269 16,273 17,581 17,809
. 4,672 4,992 3,624 2,777 3,106 2,923 1,883 2,308 2,088 1,854
. 5,359 6,137 4,336 2,329 2,928 2,383 2,039 2,630 3,103 3,746
. 239 2,431 659 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 3,767 9,660 9,643 12,843 11,997 12,797 11,173 9,999 11,012 10,552
. 9,531 7,811 4,678 1,993 2,147 1,829 1,174 1,336 1,378 1,657
. 245,278 187,175 185,870 201,331 180,626 159,294 186,827 166,470 169,678 181,434
. 54,139 46,032 38,898 36,871 31,144 31,658 35,783 33,001 35,276 40,847
. 191,139 139,029 139,245 131,255 122,454 102,174 128,467 111,779 111,455 119,227
. 0 2,031 7,727 33,205 27,028 25,462 22,577 21,690 22,947 21,360
. 0 83 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 37,484 28,879 46,962 30,370 28,302 35,158 28,217 27,630 39,791 34,501
. 105,927 97,804 86,893 94,124 85,322 67,509 67,380 68,169 71,434 70,812
. 33,763 58,691 56,983 66,169 52,798 44,584 38,677 37,207 36,065 34,221
. 15,418 3,159 1,552 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 39,537 33,116 27,339 27,429 32,067 22,362 28,237 30,337 34,573 35,526
. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 17,209 2,838 1,019 526 457 563 466 625 796 1,065
. 53,426 26,391 40,402 8,387 9,578 9,025 7,185 7,688 7,682 7,181
. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 1,813 1,492 1,668 1,428 1,360 1,322 1,235 1,756 1,688 975
. 7,971 637 576 664 1,231 1,076 828 579 719 1,608
. 15,476 6,683 6,065 2,515 2,742 2,353 2,236 2,486 2,811 2,603
. 3,211 4,290 1,920 2,131 2,437 2,181 2,052 1,729 1,714 1,355
. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
. 23,879 12,696 29,767 485 578 1,021 449 650 412 410
. 26,273 65,665 59,417 53,586 53,954 44,987 38,630 35,265 33,087 31,792

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2023
(Dollars in thousands)
Field All R&D expenditures Federal government State and local government Institution funds Business Nonprofit organizations All other sources
  All R&D fields 1,705,410 1,083,790 70,790 250,973 96,416 109,398 94,043
    Science 1,475,264 939,520 66,335 214,062 86,067 92,663 76,617
      Computer and information sciences 37,484 34,673 203 2,169 3 132 304
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 245,278 169,439 23,654 23,766 16,517 4,974 6,928
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Geological and earth sciences 54,139 23,281 4,848 7,705 15,397 973 1,935
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 191,139 146,158 18,806 16,061 1,120 4,001 4,993
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Life sciences 1,043,913 642,446 39,327 168,425 68,066 64,441 61,208
        Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Biological and biomedical sciences 68,124 49,008 0 12,820 287 4,473 1,536
        Health sciences 975,237 593,438 39,327 155,053 67,779 59,968 59,672
        Natural resources and conservation 552 0 0 552 0 0 0
        Life sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Mathematics and statistics 5,471 3,043 905 815 17 402 289
      Physical sciences 105,927 70,946 1,482 10,603 1,375 18,918 2,603
        Astronomy and astrophysics 15,418 4,935 0 2,122 0 7,176 1,185
        Chemistry 39,537 30,706 253 3,548 1,082 3,389 559
        Materials science 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Physics 33,763 22,834 0 2,815 0 7,990 124
        Physical sciences nec 17,209 12,471 1,229 2,118 293 363 735
      Psychology 13,623 11,000 0 1,072 10 741 800
      Social sciences 23,568 7,973 764 7,212 79 3,055 4,485
        Anthropology 239 0 0 197 0 0 42
        Economics 4,672 737 546 1,436 3 1,398 552
        Political science and government 3,767 766 0 1,321 76 1,045 559
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 5,359 4,688 0 210 0 398 63
        Social sciences nec 9,531 1,782 218 4,048 0 214 3,269
      Sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 176,720 114,380 1,686 26,408 7,935 11,474 14,837
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 26,273 17,408 120 1,543 609 5,900 693
      Chemical engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Civil engineering 9,627 7,801 357 867 287 47 268
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 80,563 47,061 1,063 16,085 4,123 3,714 8,517
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Mechanical engineering 23,530 18,872 0 2,428 455 425 1,350
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 28,094 23,238 146 688 2,461 1,387 174
      Engineering nec 8,633 0 0 4,797 0 1 3,835
    Non-S&E 53,426 29,890 2,769 10,503 2,414 5,261 2,589
      Business management and business administration 7,971 3,271 271 755 2,144 1,184 346
      Communication and communications technologies 1,076 319 0 422 51 217 67
      Education 15,476 8,746 725 3,375 0 2,272 358
      Humanities 3,211 899 0 1,740 0 68 504
      Law 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 1,813 93 0 1,103 0 452 165
      Non-S&E nec 23,879 16,562 1,773 3,108 219 1,068 1,149

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Federally funded R&D expenditures, by federal agency: 2023–14
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Federal Agencies 1,083,790 970,696 801,117 727,289 698,925 635,888 641,469 604,298 603,343 599,095
  DOD 126,228 104,632 79,587 119,510 98,923 70,315 92,171 77,522 75,438 81,182
  DOE 38,680 38,141 24,307 30,822 28,043 23,835 22,283 19,793 20,159 20,934
  HHS 688,073 627,145 446,030 442,934 435,980 416,124 399,294 380,903 365,739 374,466
  NASA 16,704 13,781 10,171 10,676 13,221 10,075 9,310 8,555 6,977 7,360
  NSF 163,266 129,565 90,861 88,909 88,746 82,032 87,057 84,550 100,820 84,906
  USDA 3,062 2,511 1,472 1,115 1,176 1,069 771 326 306 573
  Other 47,777 54,921 148,689 33,323 32,836 32,438 30,583 32,649 33,904 29,674

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Headcount of R&D personnel: 2023–17 [temporarily discontinued]
Year
2023 . . . .
2022 . . . .
2021 . . . .
2020 . . . .
2019 11,195 1,130 10,065 .
2018 10,935 1,096 9,839 .
2017 10,843 1,067 9,776 .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field: 2023–14
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space 2023 2021 2019 2017 2015
  All research space 2,659 2,895 2,951 2,742 2,694
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 344 335 301 319 318
    Computer and information sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 539 659 674 548 547
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 348 339 332 341 339
    Health sciences 734 814 858 907 874
    Mathematics and statistics 26 19 17 16 16
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 269 292 285 262 271
    Psychology 54 61 59 54 59
    Social sciences 117 135 133 117 106
    Other 229 242 292 177 165

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

New construction of science and engineering research space, by field and time of construction: 2025–16
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space 108,000 60,000 . 5,180 76,900
    Biological and biomedical sciences 25,091 7,000 . 2,590 42,680
    Engineering 0 0 . 0 3,700
    Health sciences 82,909 53,000 . 2,590 0
    Physical sciences 0 0 . 0 30,520

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

Costs for repair and renovation of science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field and time of repair and renovation: 2025–16
(Dollars in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space 35,800 56,097 148,277 158,364 21,739
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 1,200 11,545 19,188 27,415 445
    Computer and information sciences 5,200 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 6,000 21,355 21,239 1,652 400
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 6,252 17,955 52,397 16,884
    Health sciences 4,800 15,297 32,262 61,561 1,664
    Mathematics and statistics 9,000 0 482 1,010 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 8,600 500 9,835 13,510 485
    Psychology 0 648 1,100 0 1,012
    Social sciences 1,000 500 46,216 0 849
    Other 0 0 0 820 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities