program of its kind in the UC system. A new BA program in bagpipes was inaugurated in 2007.
=== Rankings ===
Institutional rankings of UC Riverside vary widely, depending on the criteria of the publication. For instance, U.S. News & World Report has named UC Riverside the top university in the nation for social mobility in 6 years running. In the 2026 edition of U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges", UCR was ranked tied for 75th among national universities, 36th among public schools, and 1st for social mobility (6th year in a row); criteria include professor peer assessment, student selectivity and retention, as well as faculty resources, financial resources, and alumni giving. In the 2026 edition of the Washington Monthly college rankings, UCR ranked 50th among national universities. Washington Monthly assesses the quality of schools based on social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students …
