The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

University of Pittsburgh

United StatesROR 01an3r305
=139
World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 93–399 of 2,287 · score 56.2
Research Index =172

How it scores

Research
93
Alumni outcomes
93
Admissions & earnings
85/243

Research and Alumni outcomes are percentiles among 2,287 universities; alumni outcomes are counted per student. Admissions & earnings is the position among universities in the same country (United States).

Admissions, outcomes and alumni

Admit rate
58.1% src
Average SAT
1,370 src
Yield (admits who enrol)
16% src
Median earnings 10 years after entry
$66,125 src
40-year return on investment (Georgetown CEW)
$2.09M src
Graduation rate (6 years)
86% src
Rhodes Scholars, 2021–26
0 src
Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
35 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
3 src
Founders, billionaires and $30M+ alumni
not on the published top lists; estimated
Students (undergraduate headcount / total FTE, IPEDS)
20,370 / 29,509 src

Each figure links to its source. Admissions and earnings figures are comparable only within a country.

Research Index

A · Quality
76.8
B · Strength
94.4

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: =282. On strength alone: 74. The Research Index scores research only; admissions, earnings and alumni outcomes are scored in the overall ranking where data exists.

The numbers behind it (2020–2023)

Papers in the top 10% of their field
12.1% (11.7%–12.5%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
1.3% (1.1%–1.4%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
1,763
All papers (fractional count)
14,568
International co-authored
38.2%
Open access
70.6%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
9 (0.24 per 1,000)

Core publications, fractional counting, field-normalised citation shares. Brackets show Leiden’s stability interval. Collaboration and open-access shares use full counting and aren’t field-normalised. Retraction counts come from the Retraction Watch database and include publishers’ mass retractions as well as honest-error retractions; a retraction is not by itself evidence of misconduct, and the count is never scored.

By field

Biomedical & health sciences=119range 79–179 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences535range 373–723 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science=496range 351–681 of 1,391
Physical sciences & engineering=350range 254–507 of 1,742
Social sciences & humanities=237range 143–357 of 1,262

Position over time

top 10%2006–2009: 48 of 5712020–2023: 172 of 1,305

The same method applied to each 4-year publication window. The number of ranked universities grows from period to period, so position is shown as a share of the field.

How other rankings place it

=172Research Index 2026
–QS 2027 (not in top 100)
–THE 2027 (not in top 100)
–ARWU 2026 (not in top 100)

Other rankings are cited for comparison. The Research Index measures research only; QS and THE also use reputation surveys and figures universities submit, and ARWU counts prize winners and total output.

Prize winners

Alumni laureates
3
Staff laureates
2

Alumni: 3 Nobel. Most recent: Wangari Muta Maathai (Nobel Peace, 2004), Paul Lauterbur (Nobel Medicine, 2003), Philip Showalter Hench (Nobel Medicine, 1950). Counted from Wikidata (CC0). Alumni laureates count toward the overall ranking per student (10 of 65 global weight points); staff laureates are shown for context only.