RANKINGS – QS World University Rankings is getting a facelift. A change that messes up the hierarchy of the companies.
The famous QS ranking, which awards the best universities in the world every year, is being reinvented. This list, published by the British company Quacquarelli Symonds, is one of the most prestigious, along with those of Times Higher Education and Shanghai. In the twentieth edition, universities are now evaluated based on eight criteria, including three new ones: the international research network, employment outcomes and sustainability, ie their efforts in the field of ecology. For Simona Bizzozero, QS Communications Director, “this relaunch is not just a simple realignment: it is a reset”.
PSL University wins two places
This methodological change, the most important since the inception of the prestigious ranking, has rocked university presidents around the world. Fortunately, the French are doing quite well. PSL University has not let go of the 18 spots gained in the 2023 edition and has even secured two more this year, taking it to 24th place in the world rankings.
However, the big tricolor winner of this edition is the Polytechnic Institute of Paris (38th). This recent merger of five prestigious engineering schools (Polytechnique, Ensta, Ensae, Télécom Paris and Télécom SudParis) has climbed ten levels thanks largely to excellent employment results. “Half of my mandate was devoted to building IP Paris into a world leader in science and technology, which quickly positioned itself in the top 40 in the world and today enters the top 10 in the world for ’employability'” , explained Eric Labaye. The school’s outgoing president in an interview with Figaro published today.
The Sorbonne University and the University of Paris-Saclay maintain their place in the top 100. In addition to public universities, four French institutions are represented in the ranking: ENS de Lyon (184th), École des Ponts ParisTech (192nd), Sciences Po (319th). .) and INSA Lyon (392nd).
The top of the ranking is more Anglo-Saxon than ever: 24 of the top 30 universities are in the USA, the UK, Canada or Australia. Chinese leaders Beijing and Tsinghua University slipped in the rankings as they scored poorly on international openness criteria.
Two internationally recognized names show a remarkable development: Berkeley, 27th last year, made it into the top 10, while Caltech fell from 6th to 15th place. These crossed developments can be largely explained by the different performances of these institutions on the three new criteria.