School of Education Ranks Top 65 Globally for Research
Recognized for scholarship that improves lives, classrooms, and communities
The University of Pittsburgh School of Education is ranked No. 61 in the world for education-related research in US. News & World Report’s newly released 2026 Best Global Universities report.
The evaluation was part of a review of 24,000 universities worldwide. Universities were ranked in 51 subjects across the arts and humanities, health sciences, and emerging fields like artificial intelligence.
In the Education and Educational Research category, Pitt finished No. 61 out of 100 universities deemed to be the best in the world for scholarship. Within the United States, Pitt was No. 19 among all universities and No. 14 among public universities.
“This recognition reflects the School of Education’s commitment to the highest standards of scholarship, grounded in our belief that research has the power to transform lives and create a better world,” said Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, Renée and Richard Goldman Dean of the School of Education.
Building on Pitt’s Impact
The global research ranking follows U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools ranking, in which the School of Education was ranked the No 1. public institution in Pennsylvania.
School of Education faculty regularly publish in the top journals of their fields and hold key editorial appointments. Professor Patricia Crawford is editor-in-chief of Early Childhood Education Journal—a peer-reviewed publication that recently reached the No. 1 spot on Google Scholar’s rankings of early childhood education publications.
Additionally, School of Education faculty pursue research through grant funding received from major government and philanthropic organizations. The school’s four-year average for research expenditures is approximately $14 million.
A total of 34 Pitt programs were included in the publication’s global research rankings. Among the leaders at Pitt were surgery (No. 7), clinical medicine (No. 19), immunology (No. 22), infectious diseases (No. 23), psychiatry and psychology (No. 25), and neuroscience and behavior (No. 25).
“This ranking demonstrates the impressive depth and breadth of Pitt’s research impact,” Zamani-Gallaher said. “Our university achieved global recognition in two-thirds of the subject areas covered by the U.S. News rankings.”
Based on these scores, the University of Pittsburgh was ranked No. 57 among all universities, putting it in the top 2% worldwide.
The Full Spectrum of Education
For the rankings, universities received scores based on an analysis of research publications and citation counts—known as bibliometric data—for a five-year period from 2020-2024.
The educational topical areas—which ranged from theoretical to applied research—included the history of education, reading education, curriculum studies, education policy, and socio-economic elements of education.
The bibliometric indicators were based on data from Clarivate’s Web of Science, a web-based research platform that covers more than 34,000 of the most influential and authoritative scholarly journals worldwide in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
