The University of California, Los Angeles has topped a Times Higher Education table of the best public universities in the US.

UCLA overtakes last year¡¯s leader the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor to become the country¡¯s top public institution in a new top-100 list based on the 2018?The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings.

The Californian university achieved a slightly higher score on student engagement compared with last year, while Michigan was hurt by a drop in its resources and outcomes scores (see methodology).

California is also the most-represented state in the top 10, claiming four places overall; University of California, Berkeley (fourth), University of California, Davis (sixth), and University of California, San Diego (seventh) join UCLA in this elite group.

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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (third), Purdue University (fifth), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (eighth), Georgia Institute of Technology (ninth), University of Texas at Austin (join 10^th) and University of Virginia (joint 10^th) complete the top 10.

But even the US¡¯s best public universities fail to achieve the same success as the country¡¯s leading private institutions in the WSJ/THE US College Rankings.

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UCLA ranks 25^th in the overall table, well behind its private neighbours Stanford University (joint third), California Institute of Technology (seventh) and the University of Southern California (joint 15^th).

Just over one fifth (21) of the top 100 places in the US ranking are filled by public universities. ?

Unlike the?THE?World University Rankings, which focus on universities¡¯ research performance, the US table measures institutions¡¯ student engagement, student outcomes and learning environments.

Top 10 public universities in the US

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Access the full top 100

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com