In its 2026 rankings, U.S. News & World Report named Yale School of Medicine one of the best medical schools in the United States for research. The outlet ranks schools in four tiers, and YSM achieved Tier 1 status, given to the highest performing medical schools.
For its rankings, U.S. News & World Report takes into account the total dollar amount of research grants and contracts, total research funding per faculty member, the amount of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant funding at the medical school and its affiliated hospitals, and average NIH research grant dollars per faculty member. It also considers median MCAT scores, median undergraduate GPAs, acceptance rate, and faculty/student ratio.
U.S. News & World Report ranked 105 medical and osteopathic schools for its “Best Medical Schools: Research” category.
Earlier this year, YSM was ranked fourth in the nation for 2025 NIH funding by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
U.S. News & World Report released its “Best Medical Schools” ratings on April 7. YSM also received a Tier 1 rating for “Best Medical Schools: Research,” in last year’s report.