University of Connecticut

By James A. Barham, PhD

In brief

The University of Connecticut (UConn), founded in 1881, is the state’s public flagship. Its main campus is in Storrs, with campuses in Farmington, Groton, Hartford, Stamford, and Waterbury. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #94 in the United States and #272 in the world. It admitted 52.4% of applicants for fall 2024; admitted students had a median SAT score of 1325 and a median ACT score of 30.

It is home to the Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action, a leading institute for ecological psychology, the approach pioneered by James J. Gibson.

Where UConn’s influence is strongest

UConn’s influence is led by social work and psychology. Its strongest broad fields, by US rank in our data, are:

• Social work: #31 in the US (#47 in the world)
• Psychology: #40
• Anthropology: #48
• Nursing: #54
• Business: #71

Its highest-ranked specialties in our data are:

• #6 in the US: personality psychology
• #9: cognitive behavioral therapy
• #13: risk management and orthodontics

By comparison, UConn sits further back in computer science (#125), physics (#128), and religious studies (#244).

How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.

Notable people

UConn’s Nobel laureate is the physicist David Lee. Its faculty and alumni include the philosopher Ruth Garrett Millikan, the novelists Ann Beattie and Wally Lamb, the actor Meg Ryan, the musician Moby, the ecological psychologist Michael Turvey, and US Senator Chris Murphy. Our full lists of UConn’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.

Frequently asked questions

Is UConn hard to get into? Moderately. It admitted 52.4% of applicants for fall 2024; the middle half of admitted students scored 610–710 on the SAT reading section and 600–730 on math.

What does UConn cost after financial aid? Tuition is $21,334 for Connecticut residents and $44,002 for out-of-state students in 2025–26. The average net price for aided students with family incomes of $48,000–$75,000 was $17,169 in 2024–25; it ranged from about $13,415 for incomes of $30,000–$48,000 to $36,552 for incomes above $110,000.

How do UConn graduates do? 83.5% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 92% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $82,098.

What is UConn best known for academically? By our influence data: social work, psychology, and anthropology, plus specialties such as personality psychology, where it ranks in the US top 10.