QS University Ranking 2019

The QS University Rankings were developed to give future students a broader picture of the quality of a university. Criteria such as the quality of teaching, academic output, employability of graduates, existing infrastructure on campus and many others are taken into account.

The universities receive an evaluation ranging from 0 to 5 Star, depending on the number of points achieved by the evaluation. A total of 50 different indicators contribute to the overall score. These are grouped into eleven categories and each university is evaluated in a total of eight categories.

In view of the growing popularity of university rankings, there is much debate about what is needed to be one of the best universities in the world. Since this question cannot be answered in a general way becauseof the very individual perspectives, criticism is very often levelled at the assessment approaches.

There is no question that the universities are very different and must therefore be assessed on the basis of a number of categories that also consider the different emphases and orientations.

The QS World University Ranking has defined the following key factors which, from QS’s point of view, make up a world-class university. A number of factors are also taken into account, which are often irrelevant for other university rankings and evaluations.

More Information

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
1	1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	100	99.8	94.1	100	100	100	100
2	2	Stanford University	98.4	98.6	67.7	99.8	100	100	100
3	3	Harvard University	97.4	99.6	62.2	86.3	98.7	100	100
4	5	California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	96.9	100	87.3	99.4	100	81.2	97.8
5	10	University of Chicago	92.0	78.5	81,0	70.2	96.5	93.7	99.5
6	13	Princeton University	90.9	100	67.6	64.9	70.7	98.6	99.9
7	14	Cornell University	89.3	95.1	72.3	93.8	65.7	90.4	98.7
8	15	University of Pennsylvania	88.9	67.6	63.6	84.0	100	93.7	95.8
9	17	Yale University	87.7	53.5	57.4	78.1	100	99.9	99.9
10	=18	Columbia University	87.4	53,0	96.9	40.1	100	97.6	99.7

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
11	21	University of Michigan	86.0	61.6	44.1	79.7	91.0	94.4	98.9
12	24	Johns Hopkins University	83.9	77.6	81.5	68.8	100	52.6	88.3
13	=25	Duke University	83.8	80.3	59.3	12.4	99.4	84.2	89.0
14	28	University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	82.6	97.7	39.7	92.4	30.9	99.9	100
15	=29	University of Toronto	82.1	43.9	93.0	97.7	71.5	96.3	98.9
16	31	Northwestern University	81.5	62.8	49.0	76.1	100	80.2	85.9
17	=35	McGill University	80.4	58.4	96.2	93.7	63.3	93.8	92.2
17	=35	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	80.4	88.3	38.2	50.4	40.6	99.7	100
19	39	New York University (NYU)	78.8	24.0	93.4	33.5	97.6	95.6	95.9
20	45	University of California, San Diego (UCSD)	76.6	78.4	70.3	60.8	60.3	51.8	92.2

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
21	48	Carnegie Mellon University	74.8	94.3	99.9	83.6	43.5	77.5	75.2
22	51	University of British Columbia	74.1	42.2	79.3	90.8	46.0	89.0	97.0
23	56	University of Wisconsin-Madison	71.8	50.0	30.9	57.2	85.5	49.7	87.8
24	57	Brown University	71.5	86.6	56.0	86.0	81.1	58.2	61.9
25	65	University of Texas at Austin	68.6	93.4	18.6	6.9	12.1	83.3	94.2
26	68	University of Washington	67.9	99.2	40.5	55.8	17.4	51.4	86.1
27	=72	Georgia Institute of Technology	66.2	100	65.8	60.4	15.1	81.7	71.1
28	75	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	65.9	86.3	67.2	19.3	13.5	58.1	89.0
29	85	Rice University	63.1	93.6	90.6	89.8	84.0	22.7	40.1
30	90	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	62.2	46.0	11.3	35.6	88.3	53.3	68.7

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
31	=93	Pennsylvania State University	61.7	67.8	38.6	21.4	31.6	80.4	76.5
32	=98	Boston University	60.5	62.1	88.6	33.8	53.8	57.5	63.1
33	101	The Ohio State University	59.5	41.3	27.6	81.1	66.7	67.3	63.8
34	=104	University of California, Davis	58.7	80.4	60.6	65.3	23.3	33.9	70.3
35	=108	Washington University in St. Louis	58.3	59.2	59.3	78.9	99.8	18.8	43.8
36	111	Purdue University	57.8	55.6	61.1	97.1	30.9	68.9	63.8
37	113	University of Alberta	57.3	48.8	80.8	91.6	57.0	41.4	58.0
38	129	University of Southern California	53.1	64.5	75.0	21.7	28.7	60.0	58.5
39	135	University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)	52.3	86.2	29.6	69.1	14.8	20.1	62.5
40	136	University of Maryland, College Park	52.1	70.0	26.5	26.4	50.9	34.8	54.1

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
41	137	Université de Montréal	52.0	27.5	61.8	91.1	55.4	55.5	55.2
42	=140	McMaster University	51.2	32.4	45.1	97.9	85.0	42.5	40.4
42	=140	University of Pittsburgh	51.2	49.0	23.6	15.3	96.2	21.9	44.6
44	144	Michigan State University	51.1	54.4	36.2	63.8	18.6	65.8	61.9
45	=156	Emory University	48.6	59.1	45.2	49.4	99.7	11.8	26.9
45	=156	University of Minnesota	48.6	58.2	18.8	6.9	31.9	26.1	66.2
47	=167	University of Florida	47.7	29.6	13.0	18.6	74.0	48.3	50.9
48	171	University of Rochester	47.2	42.1	90.6	67.3	100	7.4	25.0
49	=173	University of Waterloo	46.8	68.5	84.1	77.6	7.6	76.5	39.3
50	=179	Case Western Reserve University	46.4	58.7	74.0	53.7	92.0	17.1	19.9

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
51	=189	Texas A&M University	45.0	50.6	12.7	20.3	13.5	59.7	60.9
52	=198	University of Virginia	44.1	46.1	15.8	14.6	64.3	46.6	39.2
53	=200	Vanderbilt University	44.0	36.0	32.8	23.7	100	25.4	28.2
54	206	University of Colorado Boulder	43.2	50.4	14.1	37.2	63.3	25.5	37.9
55	=207	Dartmouth College	43.1	71.5	35.1	5.8	76.8	28.9	20.8
56	210	University of Notre Dame	42.9	49.8	20.6	43.1	67.3	42.6	29.8
57	211	The University of Western Ontario	42.8	73.5	50.1	98.4	9.1	65.7	30.4
58	=215	Arizona State University	42.0	67.9	56.6	64.1	12.2	29.9	42.0
59	=219	University of California, Irvine	41.3	64.4	65.6	37.4	16.9	16.7	45.3
60	226	Georgetown University	40.1	26.7	47.3	16.6	67.6	42.8	34.2

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
61	=231	University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)	39.8	36.4	22.6	12.7	43.6	33.7	46.4
62	233	University of Calgary	39.7	43.2	61.2	84.5	30.6	39.0	34.1
63	=239	Queen's University at Kingston	39.0	53.5	25.4	72.8	8.7	69.9	36.2
64	=253	Tufts University	37.5	45.7	38.5	29.4	78.9	9.8	20.2
65	=262	Rutgers University–New Brunswick	36.8	23.3	36.6	27.1	49.3	32.0	39.4
65	=262	The University of Arizona	36.8	41.9	17.4	21.7	37.6	20.1	41.9
67	=271	University of Miami	36.1	49.2	39.4	7.6	62.7	23.8	22.2
68	280	Dalhousie University	35.4	61.8	73.4	100	23.7	19.1	10.1
69	=281	University of Ottawa	35.2	62.0	56.7	91.3	7.6	37.2	25.2
70	=285	North Carolina State University	35.0	47.8	29.1	60.7	30.3	19.7	32.0

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
71	=305	University of Massachusetts Amherst	34.2	51.3	18.0	16.2	18.1	16.6	42.1
72	=312	Indiana University Bloomington	33.5	25.4	24.6	45.3	30.5	24.5	40.7
73	=314	Simon Fraser University	33.4	55.5	91.5	91.7	6.4	23.0	23.7
74	326	University of Hawai'i at Mañoa	32.9	46.9	20.0	61.4	59.0	9.3	16.6
75	327	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	32.7	37.4	29.3	43.8	29.9	36.9	29.5
76	=336	George Washington University	32.0	31.9	53.0	37.5	36.9	26.1	27.6
77	=340	University at Buffalo SUNY	31.8	70.4	52.2	86.2	9.1	12.5	19.1
78	=344	Northeastern University	31.7	45.5	93.8	85.3	20.6	18.2	18.9
79	=353	University of Utah	30.9	45.0	12.1	25.3	61.9	8.1	16.9
80	=359	Stony Brook University, State University of New York	30.5	39.7	79.1	42.9	35.3	9.6	20.9

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
80	=359	Yeshiva University	30.5	42.9	11.6	-	99.3	3.3	2.6
82	=364	University of Victoria (UVIC)	30.4	72.2	51.1	92.4	5.9	19.7	16.0
83	367	University of California, Santa Cruz	30.2	79.2	18.7	44.8	11.9	7.9	19.8
84	=372	University of Kansas	29.4	18.5	14.1	14.7	82.5	15.6	15.3
85	=377	University of Connecticut	29.0	69.8	27.5	65.4	15.0	9.2	15.9
86	=383	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	28.8	66.1	51.9	38.2	30.2	8.5	10.1
87	=392	University of Colorado, Denver	28.5	15.9	12.3	5.0	100	8.7	8.7
88	=398	Wake Forest University	28.3	19.6	16.2	7.4	100	7.8	5.9
89	=400	Washington State University	28.2	35.6	10.6	62.0	18.5	23.4	28.4
90	=407	The University of Tennessee, Knoxville	28.0	79.3	4.5	5.7	19.3	28.1	12.1

US Rank	World Rank	University	Overall Score	Citations per faculty	International students	International faculty	Faculty student	Employer reputation	Academic reputation
91	416	Université Laval	27.7	29.6	8.7	69.1	30.7	21.3	21.3
92	=419	Tulane University	27.4	17.2	22.1	17.6	85.7	5.1	10.6
93	=421	Illinois Institute of Technology	27.3	51.7	100	23.1	16.1	7.4	17.0
93	=421	University of Iowa	27.3	32.9	17.0	16.9	43.2	13.0	22.4
95	=432	Boston College	26.7	23.6	19.5	43.6	37.5	21.1	22.9
96	=439	University of Saskatchewan	26.2	39.3	53.6	73.5	31.3	10.2	11.5
97	=442	Colorado State University	26.0	26.7	8.5	30.9	46.0	20.8	18.2
98	=448	Florida State University	25.8	35.4	5.7	17.8	12.0	43.3	26.9
99	=454	University of California, Riverside	25.6	57.3	9.9	44.8	16.6	12.4	16.9
100	460	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	25.4	83.7	13.3	14.9	12.6	5.4	10.3

Research

In order to assess research activities, productivity (i.e. the number of publications published) as well as the quality of the scientific staff are considered. The latter is measured by the number of citations from the published work and awards of the scientists (e.g. Nobel Prizes or Fields Medals).

Teaching

A central task for every university is teaching and thus the training of competent employees and researchers of the future. The quality of teachingcan be determined with the help of student evaluations, the continuing education rate for academic teaching staff or quotas that document the success of students.

Employability

Whether graduates of a university successfully enter the profession does notdepend exclusively on the acquired academic skills. Much more important is the attitude to work, the ability to work effectively in multicultural teams, to present confidently and to take responsibility for projects or teams. These criteria are analyzedand evaluated by interviewing employers, graduates and career consultants.

Internationalization

Especially for international students, the degree of internationalizationof a university is of crucial importance. How high, for example, is the proportion of international students and staff? In addition, quotas on exchange students, nationalities or the number of international partner universities can provide information on the internationalizationstatus of a university.

Facilities

Under the criterion “facilities”, universities are evaluated on the basis of their infrastructure. For students, it is also very important how they can gain personal experience in addition to their further development in terms of content and subject. Life on campus, with its facilities such as sports facilities, IT infrastructure, libraries and medical facilities, makes a significant contribution to this.

Online/Distance learning

Which technologies are used for the student service? How are students involved in the university’s online platforms and networks? How is online interaction generated between the university and the students? What is the status of the online presence, modernlearning technology, digital teaching and learning platforms and distance learning elements for each university? All these questions are for evaluation in the online/distance learning category.

Social responsibility

Universities and their staff are rolemodels for the young people they train. For this reason, the category “Social Responsibility” measures how seriously universities fulfil this obligation by assuming social responsibility and investing in both local and charitable projects. Of course, thiscategory also considersemployee development and commitment to environmental protection.

Innovation

In addition to the social mandate, universities also have the role of innovation drivers. For this reason, research results and their innovative effects on the economy, society and culture are measured and evaluated in this category.

Art & Culture

The frequency with which universities organise their own concerts and exhibitions or the number of cultural prizes they award has an impact on the category “Art& Culture”.

Inclusiveness

In the category “Inclusiveness”the following questions, among others, form the basis for assessment. How accessible are universities to people with mental and/or physical disadvantages? Is it also possible for these persons toreceive scholarships? How does the university behave with regard to gender equality and what opportunities do students from lower-income backgrounds have?

SpecialistCriteria

How do experts, commissions and accreditation bodies see the university? Is the claim to excellence justified or excessive? This point of view is included in the evaluation in the category “SpecialistCriteria”.

For more in-depth information about QS Stars, visit the QS Intelligence Unit website:
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2020