University of Tartu continues steady rise in world rankings

In the reputable QS World University Rankings, published today, the University of Tartu has risen to its highest ever ranking, the 285th position. The result is sixteen places higher than last year. Since 2014, the university has climbed 176 places in the rankings.

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), an international company specialising in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world, compiles the university rankings using six indicators: academic and employer reputation of the university (40% and 10% of the total, respectively), faculty-to-student ratio (20%), impact of published work, citations per academic staff member (20%), and the ratio of international students and international staff (both 5% of the total).

In the new rankings, the University of Tartu has improved its ranking in four of the six indicators. The university's reputation among academic staff has improved particularly significantly, with a rise of 28 places on this indicator compared to the last year (from the 355th to 327th place). For the third year in a row, the university has improved its result in the ratio of international staff and students – the rise compared to last year was by 6 and by 27 places, respectively. Faculty/student ratio has improved from the 130th to the 122nd position. QS uses this ratio as an indirect indicator of teaching quality.

According to Kristjan Vassil, Vice Rector for Research of the University of Tartu, the university is very satisfied with the stable improvement in the rankings. “The guiding principle of the university’s strategic plan for the next period is to move closer to the world’s 100 best universities. We are currently improving our position in the international rankings by 20 places on average yearly, but we can perceive that each rise is more difficult to achieve than the previous one. Keeping this rate shows that we have achieved excellent international visibility without compromising our role as Estonia’s national university –developing science, higher education and culture in the Estonian language and offering evidence-based support for governance to our state and society,” said Vassil.

For the ranking, QS analysed 1,620 universities and ranked 1,002 of them. The top three universities are the same as in last year: the first is again the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by Stanford University and Harvard University.

The rankings are available on QS World University Rankings website. Information on ranking methodology is available on QS website.

Further information:
Lauri Randveer, Senior Specialist for International Cooperation, University of Tartu, +372 512 9996, lauri.randveer@ut.ee (questions about the ranking and indicators)
Kristjan Vassil, Vice Rector for Research, University of Tartu, +372 5684 4856, kristjan.vassil@ut.ee (general questions)