MSU boasts 3 academic disciplines among top 10 globally

In the 2025 edition of Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, Michigan State University is ranked in a total of 43 academic disciplines, including three in the top 10, five in the top 25, eight in the top 50, and 18 among the top 100 globally.

For the ninth straight year, MSU ranks in the top five in the world for communication and in the top 10 globally for education. MSU also places in the top 10 in the world in environmental science and engineering, jumping six places from last year. MSU’s biggest jump is in biotechnology, going from No. 48 last year to No. 15 in the world this year.

“Michigan State’s strong global performance across so many disciplines reflects the excellence, creativity and impact of our faculty, students and research teams,” said MSU Provost Laura Lee McIntyre. “To see MSU consistently ranked among the world’s best demonstrates our commitment to advancing knowledge and addressing complex challenges that matter to Michigan and to the world.”

Other highlights include:

• MSU ranks No. 22 in management, No. 29 in law, No. 32 in agricultural sciences and No. 44 in ecology — all in the top 50 globally.

• Civil engineering saw the largest improvement, moving from unranked in the top 300 to the No. 101–150 group.

• Computer science and engineering also improved, rising from the No. 101–150 group to the No. 51–75 group.

The ranking’s methodology changed last year (2024 edition) and varies depending on the subject. Eight metrics are measured, with some of them not being included for some subjects. Metrics can include:

• Number of articles from 2020–2024 in journals with a Quartile One, or Q1 Journal Impact Factor

• Number of articles from 2020–2024 in Shanghai Top Journals or Top Conferences in the subject

• Number of faculty on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researcher list in the subject area

• Number of journal editors in the subject area

• Number of faculty in leadership positions in international academic organizations in the field

• Institution’s Category Normalized Citation Impact (for the subject) from 2020–2024

• International collaboration on articles in the subject from 2020–2024

• Number of faculty with an international scholarly award in the subject

Shanghai Ranking Consultancy is a fully independent organization dedicated to research on higher education intelligence and consultation. It has been the official publisher of the Academic Ranking of World Universities since 2009.