New global rankings show Ohio State continues to lead the nation and world in public administration research.
The Ohio State University is ranked fifth, up from seventh in 2024, among U.S. universities and 18th, up from 22nd, out of 100 universities from around the world according to ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s 2025 report released by the Academic Rankings of World Universities.
This ranking includes public administration research produced by John Glenn College of Public Affairs faculty, doctoral students and research staff as well as scholars in other colleges and departments at the university.
“These latest rankings illustrate the sustained impact of Ohio State’s scholarly work in advancing public affairs in U.S. and the world,” said Glenn College Dean Trevor Brown, who is also Ohio State’s senior vice provost for academic affairs. “Our researchers continue to publish impactful research in partnership with other experts across the nation and around the globe.”
ShanghaiRanking 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. The Global Ranking of Academic Subjects is based on nine objective indicators grouped into five categories: world-class faculty, world-class research output, high-quality research, research impact, and international collaboration.
Ohio State ranked in the top 20 worldwide in nine subjects. In addition to public administration at 22, the university’s rankings include communication (7), education (7), psychology (8), nursing (11), management (11), sociology (14), veterinary sciences (17) and metallurgical engineering (18).
In 2009, ShanghaiRanking first introduced the world university rankings by academic subjects, officially renamed the ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) in 2017. GRAS evaluates world universities across 57 subjects in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences, and social sciences. Each year, GRAS presents around 20,000 subject units from approximately 2,000 universities across some 100 countries and regions.