84 colleges ranked by the research strength of their Computer Science faculty — a 0–100 blend of bibliometric quality, top-decile stars, federal R&D funding, and academic notability. Research output, not teaching quality. Reference corpus: 2,533 faculty. Data as of 2026-07-02.
| # | College | Research Strength | Coverage | Median h | FY24 R&D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia University Ivy League · #8 61 matched faculty; median h-index 44; $36m FY24 R&D; led by Brian A Smith (h-index 121). | 81 | A | 44 | $36m |
| 2 | University of Southern California Elite Private · #28 80 matched faculty; median h-index 32; $126m FY24 R&D; led by Bhaskar Krishnamachari (h-index 115). | 80 | A | 32 | $126m |
| 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ivy+ · #2 47 matched faculty; median h-index 38; $121m FY24 R&D; led by Anantha Chandrakasan (h-index 116). | 79 | A | 38 | $121m |
| 4 | Harvard University Ivy League · #3 73 matched faculty; median h-index 37; $26m FY24 R&D; led by L Mahadevan (h-index 104). | 76 | A | 37 | $26m |
| 5 | University of California, Berkeley Public Ivy · #10 33 matched faculty; median h-index 52; $16m FY24 R&D; led by Trevor Darrell (h-index 139). | 76 | A | 52 | $16m |
| 6 | Cornell University Ivy League · #11 56 matched faculty; median h-index 31; $43m FY24 R&D; led by Jon Kleinberg (h-index 115). | 75 | A | 31 | $43m |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania Ivy League · #6 51 matched faculty; median h-index 34; $28m FY24 R&D; led by Christos Davatzikos (h-index 122). | 74 | A | 34 | $28m |
| 8 | Carnegie Mellon University Elite Private · #24 37 matched faculty; median h-index 31; $227m FY24 R&D; led by Christos Faloutsos (h-index 132). | 74 | A | 31 | $227m |
| 9 | Johns Hopkins University Ivy+ · #9 45 matched faculty; median h-index 30; $303m FY24 R&D; led by Steven Salzberg (h-index 161). | 73 | A | 30 | $303m |
| 10 | University of California, Irvine Public Ivy · #33 75 matched faculty; median h-index 30; $25m FY24 R&D; led by Pierre F. Baldi (h-index 118). | 73 | A | 30 | $25m |
| 11 | Princeton University Ivy League · #1 52 matched faculty; median h-index 25; $31m FY24 R&D; led by Tom Griffiths (h-index 100). | 72 | A | 25 | $31m |
| 12 | New York University Elite Private · #35 38 matched faculty; median h-index 35; $20m FY24 R&D; led by Yann LeCun (h-index 119). | 71 | A | 35.5 | $20m |
| 13 | University of Wisconsin-Madison State Flagship · #35 44 matched faculty; median h-index 32; $39m FY24 R&D; led by Livny, Miron (h-index 73). | 71 | A | 32 | $39m |
| 14 | University of Washington State Flagship · #40 36 matched faculty; median h-index 30; $36m FY24 R&D; led by Matthew Golub (h-index 133). | 70 | A | 30 | $36m |
| 15 | University of California, San Diego Public Ivy · #29 39 matched faculty; median h-index 40; $10m FY24 R&D; led by Mihir Bellare (h-index 100). | 69 | A | 40 | $10m |
| 16 | University of Chicago Ivy+ · #12 49 matched faculty; median h-index 28; $33m FY24 R&D; led by Ian Foster (h-index 125). | 69 | A | 28 | $33m |
| 17 | Georgia Institute of Technology Public Ivy · #33 49 matched faculty; median h-index 27; $235m FY24 R&D; led by Wenke Lee (h-index 80). | 68 | A | 27 | $235m |
| 18 | University of Maryland, College Park State Flagship · #44 31 matched faculty; median h-index 33; $94m FY24 R&D; led by Heng Huang (h-index 74). | 67 | A | 33 | $94m |
| 19 | University of Texas at Austin Public Ivy · #32 26 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $156m FY24 R&D; led by Kristen Grauman (h-index 84). | 66 | A | 23 | $156m |
| 20 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign State Flagship · #35 64 matched faculty; median h-index 14; $88m FY24 R&D; led by Tarek Abdelzaher (h-index 87). | 65 | A | 14 | $88m |
| 21 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public Ivy · #33 34 matched faculty; median h-index 28; $50m FY24 R&D; led by Anderson, James (h-index 66). | 65 | A | 28.5 | $50m |
| 22 | Duke University Ivy+ · #7 37 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $14m FY24 R&D; led by Siqi Liu (h-index 184). | 64 | A | 23 | $14m |
| 23 | Boston University Elite Private · #41 34 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $26m FY24 R&D; led by Ran Canetti (h-index 81). | 64 | A | 23 | $26m |
| 24 | University of California, Santa Cruz State Flagship · #84 35 matched faculty; median h-index 27; $13m FY24 R&D; led by James Edward Davis (h-index 91). | 63 | A | 27 | $13m |
| 25 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Regional · #70 33 matched faculty; median h-index 20; $26m FY24 R&D; led by Ge Wang (h-index 86). | 61 | A | 20 | $26m |
| 26 | Brown University Ivy League · #9 42 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $18m FY24 R&D; led by John F Hughes (h-index 93). | 60 | A | 23.5 | $18m |
| 27 | University of Notre Dame Elite Private · #18 45 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $30m FY24 R&D; led by Kevin Bowyer (h-index 75). | 60 | A | 23 | $30m |
| 28 | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities State Flagship · #54 34 matched faculty; median h-index 25; $29m FY24 R&D; led by George Karypis (h-index 93). | 60 | A | 25 | $29m |
| 29 | California Institute of Technology Ivy+ · #6 14 matched faculty; median h-index 35; $10m FY24 R&D; led by Steven Low (h-index 89). | 59 | A | 35.5 | $10m |
| 30 | Washington University in St. Louis Elite Private · #24 43 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $6m FY24 R&D; led by Ning Zhang (h-index 87). | 58 | A | 23 | $6m |
| 31 | New Jersey Institute of Technology State Flagship · #84 61 matched faculty; median h-index 18; $15m FY24 R&D; led by Haotian Zhang (h-index 90). | 56 | A | 18 | $15m |
| 32 | Northwestern University Elite Private · #9 22 matched faculty; median h-index 29; $15m FY24 R&D; led by Aggelos Katsaggelos (h-index 80). | 56 | B | 29.5 | $15m |
| 33 | Arizona State University Selective Public · #119 11 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $48m FY24 R&D; led by Douglas Montgomery (h-index 78). | 54 | A | 19 | $48m |
| 34 | University of Maryland, Baltimore County State Flagship · #129 75 matched faculty; median h-index 18; $20m FY24 R&D; led by Houbing Herbert Song (h-index 87). | 54 | A | 18 | $20m |
| 35 | Dartmouth College Ivy League · #10 35 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $20m FY24 R&D; led by Andrew Thomas Campbell (h-index 81). | 53 | A | 19 | $20m |
| 36 | Stony Brook University (SUNY) State Flagship · #58 51 matched faculty; median h-index 18; $16m FY24 R&D; led by Dimitris Samaras (h-index 60). | 53 | A | 18 | $16m |
| 37 | George Mason University Regional · #119 32 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $33m FY24 R&D; led by Andrian Marcus (h-index 53). | 51 | A | 19 | $33m |
| 38 | Tufts University Elite Private · #40 27 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $5m FY24 R&D; led by Robert Jacob (h-index 54). | 49 | A | 23 | $5m |
| 39 | University of Illinois, Chicago State Flagship · #80 25 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $14m FY24 R&D; led by Chen, Hao (h-index 141). | 48 | A | 23 | $14m |
| 40 | University of South Florida State Flagship · #91 19 matched faculty; median h-index 11; $25m FY24 R&D; led by Randy Borum (h-index 53). | 47 | A | 11 | $25m |
| 41 | University of Houston Regional · #134 37 matched faculty; median h-index 21; $8m FY24 R&D; led by Zhu Han (h-index 136). | 47 | A | 21 | $8m |
| 42 | Syracuse University Regional · #73 21 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $8m FY24 R&D; led by Kevin Crowston (h-index 62). | 45 | A | 13 | $8m |
| 43 | Colorado School of Mines State Flagship · #76 31 matched faculty; median h-index 15; $5m FY24 R&D; led by Hua Wang (h-index 83). | 43 | A | 15 | $5m |
| 44 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Regional · #86 31 matched faculty; median h-index 20; $12m FY24 R&D; led by Neil Heffernan (h-index 44). | 43 | A | 20 | $12m |
| 45 | University of Texas at Dallas Regional · #112 17 matched faculty; median h-index 17; $10m FY24 R&D; led by Weili Lily Wu (h-index 53). | 42 | A | 17 | $10m |
| 46 | Iowa State University Regional · #119 36 matched faculty; median h-index 17; $9m FY24 R&D; led by Yang Li (h-index 65). | 42 | A | 17 | $9m |
| 47 | University of Missouri Regional · #105 30 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $5m FY24 R&D; led by Jianlin Cheng (h-index 68). | 40 | A | 19 | $5m |
| 48 | University of Connecticut State Flagship · #70 30 matched faculty; median h-index 23; $8m FY24 R&D; led by Jinbo Bi (h-index 40). | 39 | A | 23.5 | $8m |
| 49 | University at Albany (SUNY) State Flagship · #129 20 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $27m FY24 R&D; led by Ming-Ching Chang (h-index 53). | 39 | A | 13 | $27m |
| 50 | North Carolina State University State Flagship · #58 18 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $30m FY24 R&D; led by Tiffany Barnes (h-index 39). | 37 | A | 13.5 | $30m |
| 51 | Lehigh University Selective Private · #46 25 matched faculty; median h-index 20; $3m FY24 R&D; led by Lifang He (h-index 45). | 37 | A | 20 | $3m |
| 52 | Brandeis University Regional · #63 17 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $3m FY24 R&D; led by James Pustejovsky (h-index 59). | 37 | A | 19 | $3m |
| 53 | Florida International University State Flagship · #98 32 matched faculty; median h-index 14; $29m FY24 R&D; led by Michael Robinson (h-index 40). | 36 | A | 14 | $29m |
| 54 | George Washington University Regional · #63 25 matched faculty; median h-index 21; $10m FY24 R&D; led by Robert Pless (h-index 40). | 35 | A | 21 | $10m |
| 55 | Brigham Young University Regional · #112 31 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $6m FY24 R&D; led by Mike P. Jones (h-index 38). | 35 | A | 19 | $6m |
| 56 | Illinois Institute of Technology Regional · #119 21 matched faculty; median h-index 21; $4m FY24 R&D; led by Peng-Jun Wan (h-index 50). | 35 | A | 21 | $4m |
| 57 | Case Western Reserve University Selective Private · #51 14 matched faculty; median h-index 19; $7m FY24 R&D; led by Mehmet Koyuturk (h-index 37). | 31 | A | 19.5 | $7m |
| 58 | Drexel University Regional · #86 30 matched faculty; median h-index 12; $7m FY24 R&D; led by Ali Shokoufandeh (h-index 38). | 30 | A | 12.5 | $7m |
| 59 | Stevens Institute of Technology Regional · #76 26 matched faculty; median h-index 14; $4m FY24 R&D; led by Michael Greenberg (h-index 50). | 29 | A | 14.5 | $4m |
| 60 | Oregon State University Selective Public · #115 5 matched faculty; median h-index 16; $5m FY24 R&D; led by Julie A. Adams (h-index 34). | 29 | C | 16 | $5m |
| 61 | Rochester Institute of Technology Regional · #91 36 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $13m FY24 R&D; led by Edith Hemaspaandra (h-index 29). | 28 | A | 13.5 | $13m |
| 62 | Williams College Elite Private · #11 13 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Kelly Shaw (h-index 33). | 28 | A | 13 | $0m |
| 63 | Connecticut College Top LAC · #42 6 matched faculty; median h-index 8; $0m FY24 R&D; led by S. James Lee (h-index 61). | 26 | B | 8.5 | $0m |
| 64 | Carleton College Top LAC · #6 11 matched faculty; median h-index 9; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Layla Oesper (h-index 34). | 26 | A | 9 | $0m |
| 65 | Bowdoin College Elite Private · #23 8 matched faculty; median h-index 12; $0m FY24 R&D; led by David Byrd (h-index 57). | 25 | B | 12.5 | $0m |
| 66 | University of Richmond Elite Private · #22 11 matched faculty; median h-index 12; $0m FY24 R&D; led by John R. Hubbard (h-index 57). | 25 | A | 12 | $0m |
| 67 | Colgate University Selective Private · #46 9 matched faculty; median h-index 10; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Grusha Prasad (h-index 43). | 22 | B | 10 | $0m |
| 68 | Barnard College Top LAC · #12 6 matched faculty; median h-index 10; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Rebecca Wright (h-index 35). | 22 | B | 10.5 | $0m |
| 69 | Pomona College Elite Private · #15 11 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Kim B. Bruce (h-index 36). | 22 | A | 13 | $0m |
| 70 | Haverford College Top LAC · #16 7 matched faculty; median h-index 10; $0m FY24 R&D; led by David Wonnacott (h-index 20). | 20 | B | 10 | $0m |
| 71 | Macalester College Top LAC · #24 33 matched faculty; median h-index 10; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Michael Schneider (h-index 35). | 20 | A | 10 | $0m |
| 72 | Hamilton College Elite Private · #37 6 matched faculty; median h-index 13; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Thomas Helmuth (h-index 20). | 19 | B | 13.5 | $0m |
| 73 | Grinnell College Top LAC · #14 9 matched faculty; median h-index 8; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Henry M. Walker (h-index 17). | 18 | B | 8 | $1m |
| 74 | Colby College Elite Private · #47 9 matched faculty; median h-index 9; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Amanda Stent (h-index 29). | 18 | B | 9 | $0m |
| 75 | Rhodes College Top LAC · #52 5 matched faculty; median h-index 7; led by Hong Xu (h-index 16). | 18 | C | 7 | — |
| 76 | Lafayette College Top LAC · #38 8 matched faculty; median h-index 6; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Jia Tao (h-index 27). | 18 | B | 6 | $0m |
| 77 | Colorado College Top LAC · #27 4 matched faculty; median h-index 8; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Janet Burge (h-index 16). | 18 | C | 8 | $0m |
| 78 | Middlebury College Elite Private · #30 13 matched faculty; median h-index 9; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Daniel Scharstein (h-index 30). | 17 | A | 9 | $0m |
| 79 | Wellesley College Elite Private · #28 21 matched faculty; median h-index 6; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Orit Shaer (h-index 31). | 16 | A | 6 | $0m |
| 80 | Harvey Mudd College Top LAC · #10 16 matched faculty; median h-index 6; $1m FY24 R&D; led by Chris Stone (h-index 32). | 16 | A | 6.5 | $1m |
| 81 | Swarthmore College Elite Private · #17 13 matched faculty; median h-index 8; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Lisa Meeden (h-index 17). | 15 | A | 8 | $0m |
| 82 | Vassar College Top LAC · #13 9 matched faculty; median h-index 8; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Jonathan Gordon (h-index 23). | 15 | B | 8 | $0m |
| 83 | Davidson College Elite Private · #40 13 matched faculty; median h-index 5; $0m FY24 R&D; led by Yan Zhuang (h-index 28). | 13 | A | 5 | $0m |
| 84 | Santa Clara University Regional · #63 24 matched faculty; median h-index 7; led by Daniel N. Ostrov (h-index 16). | 13 | A | 7 | — |
Research Strength (0–100) blends four components, re-normalized over whichever are available for each college: Quality 45%, Stars 25%, Funding 20%, Notability 10%. Each college's faculty in Computer Science are matched to OpenAlex research records; scores use field-relative percentiles across these 192 colleges, not all US institutions. A college needs at least four matched faculty to be ranked.
Research Strength Rankings v1.0 · as of 2026-07-02.