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Steady as you go
Overview of the latest QS world university rankings .
By Anand Kulkarni
The QS 2022 rankings includes 1300 institutions , up from 1185 last year , representing the greater engagement of institutions with rankings and in meeting thresholds .
QS ranks universities according to academic reputation , employer reputation , citations per faculty normalised by subject , faculty / student ratio and international staff and students . For the most part the reference year for data is 2020 , except research papers which is for 2015-2019 and citations 2015-2020 . Academic and Employer reputations are based on survey instruments .
In 2022 Europe leads the field with 468 ranked institutions followed by Asia with 399 , North America 205 and Latin America 151 . By country , the US dominates with a whopping 177 ( up from 160 last year ) ranked institutions followed by the UK with 90 ( same as last year ), China 58 ( 51 in 2021 ), Germany 46 ( 47 last year ), France 32 ( 42 last year ), Japan 48 ( 45 last year ) and South Korea 39 ( 30 last year ).
These rankings continue to highlight the dominance of the established countries and the breadth and depth of educational offerings in these nations . For example , the top 10 ranked institutions comprise five US , four UK and one Swiss Institution , while in the top 50 , the US and UK account for 25 , or 50 per cent , of these ranked universities .
China , however , is continuing to make its mark , reflecting its years of patient capital investment in human capital , accounting for 14.5 per cent of the Asian ranked institutions and 4.5 per cent globally . China ’ s best placed institution , Tsinghua University , is at 17th place with Peking University in 18th place . China has five institutions in the top 50 , and 6 in the top 100 , noting that its performance in the 51-100 lags .
India also continues to find its feet in these rankings , rising from 29 last year to 35 . In Europe , despite the dominance of the UK , there is , as to be expected , a broader representation of countries , as in Latin America . With only 31 ranked institutions dominated by Egypt and South Africa , Africa continues to lag other parts of the world . This will continue to have implications for equity and access to good education in this part of the world , relative to others . As rankings take time to achieve and good quality domestic education requires extensive and intensive investment , we might continue to see more international student mobility from African nations , COVID permitting .
Australia continues to perform very strongly especially so relative to its population size . There are 38 ranked Australian Institutions , up from 36 last year . In the latest rankings ANU leads the field at = 27 followed by The University of Melbourne at 37th , The University of Sydney 38th , The University of NSW 43rd and The University of QLD 47th .
There are five Australian Institutions in the top 50 , and seven in the top 100 , reflecting the overall strength of the sector , its high reputation , multi-disciplinary nature
driven by its comprehensive approach to education , research capabilities and high degree of internationalisation .
It is often said that Australia has a leading overall education eco-system . There is a drop-off between the 51-100 range . Achieving rankings in this 51-100 range could be an important aspiration in years to come .
There are no Australian Institutions in the top 10 , as has traditionally been the case . The top 10 is dominated by the ‘ usual suspects ’ in MIT , Harvard , Oxford and Cambridge , etc .
However , Australian institutions are represented across the full spectrum of the rankings . In addition to the numbers in the top 50 and top 100 , six institutions are in the range 101 to 200 , four in 201-300 , four in 301-400 , five in the range of 401-500 , one from 501-600 , three between 601 and 700 , three between 701 and 800 and five in the 801 plus category .
As is to be expected , a number of the newer universities and early stage entrants into the rankings game occupy the lower reaches of the ranking . Lifting performance in rankings is a long game .
Looking ahead , there are a number of wildcards . First is the impact of COVID-19 on international students , and how the rankings agencies will treat this in methodology . This will be particularly important for Australia given its highly internationalised sector in terms of students .
Second , with university finances potentially constrained in a number of places around the world in the wake of COVID-19 , it will be intriguing to see whether research effort and intensity will hold on , and also whether research priorities become more directed towards COVID recovery programs .
In short , the QS rankings for 2022 represent a ‘ steady as you go ’ result , with many of the countries and institutions that have traditionally dominated continuing to do so . However , of note is the inexorable rise of China and to a lesser extent South Korea and India , with Japan holding firm . It appears that Asia is increasingly becoming a key player for global education .
The views expressed here are the author ’ s entirely . ■
Dr Anand Kulkarni is a higher education professional at Victoria University .
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