NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma is the No. 1 university in Oklahoma, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges list. This year, OU climbed to No. 110 overall, 22 spots higher than the previous year. The jump is the largest among all Southeastern Conference institutions, and OU is one of only two SEC universities with a double-digit increase in this category.
Overall, OU ranks in the top 25% of all universities nationwide. Among all public universities, OU placed No. 54, a 14-spot increase from last year, and the only double-digit increase in the SEC. The ranking also places OU among the top 5 public universities in the region.
“At OU, our commitment to opening the doors of opportunity and empowering our students to succeed is at the forefront of everything we do, and we are thrilled to see this recognition,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “This ranking is a reflection of the incredible work taking place across our campus and is a testament to the dedication and excellence of our students, faculty and staff.”
OU earned high marks in several other categories on the list. The university’s undergraduate business program in the Michael F. Price College of Business was ranked No. 51 overall, No. 1 in Oklahoma and among the top 10% of all public business schools nationwide. Other areas earning top nods in the state include Entrepreneurship (No. 29 nationally), Best Colleges for Veterans – National Universities (No. 73 in the nation) and Undergraduate Engineering Programs (No. 96 in the nation).
The new rankings follow a fifth-consecutive record-breaking freshmen class at OU. The Class of 2029 is composed of 6,229 students and is the third consecutive class with more Oklahomans than ever before. Freshman enrollment at OU has jumped more than 30% in just three years, helping to grow total enrollment to more than 36,500 students across all campuses this fall.
U.S. News & World Report evaluated 1,700 U.S. four-year bachelor’s degree-granting institutions on 17 measures for its 2026 rankings. They looked at graduation rates, first-year retention rates, faculty resources and borrower debt, as well as financial aid and peer assessments.
U.S. News & World Report’s complete list of the 2026 college rankings can be found at usnews.com/best-colleges.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
In a rare achievement for an undergraduate student, Colby Higdon, a geology major on the paleontology track with the University of Oklahoma has published original paleontological research conducted at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History that reveals new insights into whether competition between ancient animals was responsible for their extinction.
Newly published research in Science Advances, led by Jessica Cerezo-Román, at the University of Oklahoma, documents the oldest known cremation in Africa and provides some of the earliest evidence for intentional cremation using a pyre in the world.
Three University of Oklahoma graduate students have been named winners of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition, which challenges participants to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
