QS Releases its World University Rankings for 2023 at EduData Summit in New York

QS has released its 19th edition of the World University Rankings (QS WUR 2023) on June 9th during the Edu Data Summit. Our CEO, Kamran Kardan, attended this remarkable event in New York, at the Delegates Dining Room at United Nations. While King Abdulaziz University acted as the event’s organising partner, other regional universities also partnered with the event, like Abu Dhabi University, Al Ahlia Amman University, Al Maarefa University, American University of the Middle East (AUM), Applied Science University (ASU), Canadian University Dubai, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahed University, Qassim University, United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and University of Business and Technology (UBT).

Under the theme “The Virtuous Circle: Sustainable and inclusive life-long learning through EduData”, the event addressed highly important and timely topics including:

– “How data contributes to equal access to education”

– “Tracking the success of initiatives that encourage continued learning”

– “How industries influence course content”

– “The changing demands of employers and employees”

– “How government policies direct resources towards certain sectors or have incentives for particular majors”

This year’s QS World University Ranking looked at data from 1,418 institutions across the globe, making it the largest QS WUR ranking to date. The overall chart scores rely on information gathered about the following six indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty, faculty student ratio, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio.

Assessing the data from universities includes examining millions of citations and academic papers and taking into account the opinion of 151,000 experts and 99,000 employers. Universities from 100 territories have been included in this ranking, up from 96 last year, with universities from four new territories added to the charts this year: the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, and Macau SAR, with the University of Macau being the only institution making it to the top 500 from these territories

The Top Ten

With 47 new entrants and over 5500 universities assessed for inclusion, the list continues to grow yearly. Half of this year’s top ten was populated by universities from the United States, another four from the United Kingdom, and one university from Switzerland. While MIT preserved its place at the top, University of Oxford slipped from second place to fourth this year. University of Cambridge claimed second place instead, and Stanford followed closely after, remaining in third place. Harvard University and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) held on to their positions in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Imperial College London, which placed seventh last year, made an improvement, tying in with Caltech in sixth place. The tie between UCL and ETH Zurich was broken this year, with UCL occupying eighth place and ETH Zurich taking over the ninth spot. Finally, University of Chicago kept its position in tenth place.

Well-Represented Countries

An impressive 202 universities from the United States were included in this ranking, with 83 of the total 202 making it to the top 500. From the United Kingdom, 46 universities ranked within the top 500, out of a total of 89 British universities. Perhaps the third most represented country within this ranking was China (Mainland) with 71 institutions ranked, and 28 making it to the top 500. Germany’s record was similarly striking with 46 institutions earning a place on this year’s chart – 29 of those (more than half) made the top 500. From India, 41 universities made an appearance on the QS charts this year – nine of them placing within the top 500. Thirty-eight universities from Australia, 32 from France, and 30 from Canada made the charts this year, with 24, 13, and 17 universities securing a position within the top 500, respectively.

Within the Region:

King Abdulaziz University topped the Arab charts once again this year, reaching a new record high at 106th place, up from 109th last year. The university’s most notable indicators were the international faculty ratio (99) and employer reputation (70.7). Overall, the top performer in the region was Saudi Arabia with 16 universities on the list, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 11 and Egypt with 14 universities.

From Egypt, the American University in Cairo was the only university within the top 500 and made it to 416th place, up from 445th place last year. Cairo University rose on the charts as well from the 571-580 bracket last year to the 551-560 bracket this year, almost making it to the top 500. Two universities in Iran, Sharif University of Technology and Amirkabir University of Technology, ranked within the top 500 in 380th and 443rd place, respectively. From Lebanon, only the American University of Beirut (AUB) placed within the top 500. Oman and Qatar also each had one university within the top 500 and those were Sultan Qaboos University in 384th place and Qatar University in 208th place. Qatar University has been steadily advancing since 2015, when it ranked within the 551-600 group.

Saudi Arabia’s performance was quite remarkable this year. In addition to King Abdulaziz University (KAU) being the top performing Arab university in the ranking (106th place), the country also had four more universities making it to the top 500. King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, King Saud University, Umm Al-Qura University, and Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) ranked 160th, 237th, 449th, and 477th, respectively.

Finally, the United Arab Emirates, which secured 11 universities on the QS WUR list, held three universities within the top 500. These universities are: Khalifa University in 181st place, United Arab Emirates University in 296th place, and American University of Sharjah in 369th place.

Academic reputation (40%)

Based on the opinions of more than 130,000 experts, academic reputation is one of the indicators that hold the most weight when it comes to the overall rankings. Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of California – Berkley (UCB), University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Stanford University, and The University of Tokyo received a full score for academic reputation, while Princeton and Yale University occupied the last two spots in the top ten for this indicator, with a score of 99.9.

Citations per faculty (20%)

This year, eight universities scored 100 points for citations per faculty. With most of the universities from the United States (Harvard, Princeton, Caltech, MIT, University of Washington, and Carnegie Mellon University), two universities from India and South Korea also recorded a full 100 – Indian Institute of Science and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), respectively.

Faculty student ratio (20%)

Twenty universities received a complete score of 100 for faculty student ratio. Of those universities, ten were from the United States, two from Denmark, two from Russia, two from the United Kingdom, one from Cuba, one from Japan, one from México, and one from South Korea.

Employer reputation (10%)

Competency, innovation, and valuable skills that prepare graduates to join the job market is what this indicator evaluates. The following seven universities within the top ten for employer reputation scored a hundred points: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and Yale University. Closely after with a score of 99.9 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) placed eighth on the list, with Imperial College London and The University of Tokyo occupying the last two places within this list’s top ten, with a score of 99.7.

International faculty ratio (5%)

As many as 66 universities received an impressive full score on this indicator. And once again, universities from the MENA region made important appearances at the top of the chart. Out of the total 66 universities that received a full score, 22 universities were from the MENA region. These were (alphabetically):

– Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates

– Ajman University, United Arab Emirates

– Al Ain University, United Arab Emirates

– Alfaisal University, Saudi Arabia

– American University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

– American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

– American University of the Middle East, Kuwait

– Applied Science University, Bahrain

– Canadian University Dubai, United Arab Emirates

– Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait

– Jouf University Sakaka, Saudi Arabia

– Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates

– King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia

– King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia

– Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia

– Qatar University, Qatar

– Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

– Umm Al-Qura University Makkah, Saudi Arabia

– United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates

– University of Dubai, United Arab Emirates

– University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

– Zayed University, United Arab Emirates

International student ratio (5%)

Twenty-one universities from around the world scored a perfect 100 on this indicator. Of these 21 universities, seven from the region achieved a complete score for the international student ratio indicator. From Saudi Arabia, the Islamic University of Madinah made it to the top. From the United Arab Emirates, the following universities all scored 100 for this indicator: American University in Dubai, Ajman University, American University of Sharjah, Canadian University Dubai, Al Ain University, and University of Sharjah.

International research network (unweighted)

Harvard University topped this chart followed by UCL in second place. The University of Oxford came third according to the international research network indicator. From France, Université PSL came fourth and Sorbonne University placed fifth. The rest of the chart was as follows: the University of Cambridge came sixth; Université Paris Cité, seventh; King’s College London, eighth; Université de Montpellier in France, ninth; and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark concluded the top ten for this indicator in tenth place.

Employment outcomes (unweighted)

Universities from the United States and the United Kingdom took over this indicator’s top ten with the exception of the Gulf University for Science and Technology from Kuwait which made an appearance with a score of 100. Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Oxford, Princeton University, and the University of Cambridge also scored 100 on this indicator.

Sources:

QS World University Rankings 2023
QS World University Ranking Methodology
PR News Wire: QS World University Rankings
Al Fanar Media: Arab Universities Are Ranked

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