Six Oz Universities Make QS World University Rankings Top 100

Six Australian universities have made it into the top 100 in the latest QS World University Rankings, released today.

The Australian National University in Canberra topped the Australian entries, coming in at 22 on the list, the University of Melbourne was 42nd, the University of Sydney was 46th, the University of NSW was 49th, the University of Queensland was 51st and Monash University was 65th.

“ANU is proud to be named Australia’s top University and were delighted we have maintained our number one position,” said ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt AC.

“Our top ranking reflects the outstanding research efforts of staff and students and demonstrates the University’s ability to conduct research that is equal to or better than the very best in the world.”

ANU was ranked number one in Australia for overall performance, as well as for the ratio of faculty to students and for citations per faculty. ANU was ranked 25th in the world for academic reputation, up from 26th in 2015, with an overall score of 99.1 out of 100.

The findings were based on rankings for 916 institutions around the world, including 35 universities in Australia.

Overall, the leading US and UK universities retain their positions at the top of the rankings. However, universities from the world’s emerging ecobnomic powers in Asia are quickly gaining ground.

Holding onto the top spot for the fifth consecutive year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)is now followed by Stanford University, which has climbed one place this year. Harvard University(which led the ranking from 2004-9) is now third, while the University of Cambridge (another former table-topper) slips to fourth, having shared joint third with Stanford last year.

The rest of the top 10 is predominantly stable, though Switzerland’s ETH Zurich continues its upwards trajectory, switching places with the UK’s Imperial College London.

There’s a slight pause in momentum for Asia’s frontrunners – the National University of Singaporeand country-mate Nanyang Technological University – which hold steady at 12^th and 13^threspectively. A little further down the list, China’s leading light, Tsinghua University, climbs one place to its highest-ever position, at joint 24^th.

The ranking shows progress for some (though not all) of the world’s fast-developing economies, including both China and Russia, and for leading higher education hubs across Asia.

China now has three universities in the global top 50; Tsinghua (=24) is joined by Peking University, which climbs two places to 39^th, and Fudan University, which climbs eight positions to 43^rd. Eight of the C9 group have improved their overall positions this year, with eight of these nine also gaining ground in the indicator assessing research impact.

Published annually, the QS World University Rankings provides an index of the world’s leading higher education institutions, based on six performance indicators. The ranking has been expanded this year to feature 916 universities (25 more than last year) in 81 countries, following an assessment of more than 3,800 institutions. The results are presented in an interactive table, which can be filtered by both location and indicator.

In 2013, QS became the first compiler of international rankings to be independently audited and approved by the IREG Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence. Alongside the QS World University Rankings, the “IREG Approved” label is also carried by the QS University Rankings: Asia and the QS University Rankings: Latin America.