UC Chile Climbs in Global Rankings, Maintains Top Spot in Chile
After evaluating nearly 2,500 institutions, prestigious British ranking places Universidad Católica among the best universities in the world. Its strengths continue to be its reputation among academics and employers, as well as its high employability rate.
photo_camera UC Chile climbed 18 positions compared to the previous year. With this "leap," it ranks in the top 7% of large university institutions. Photo: Office of Communication.
The 20th edition of the QS World University Rankings 2024 placed UC Chile at the 103rd position worldwide. The university leapt 18 spots in the international rankings, as compared to the previous year (121). Among the institutions analyzed, UC Chile is in the top 7% of the ranking.
This year, QS analyzed 2,462 universities from 104 countries (501 more institutions than in the previous edition), and 1,499 were listed. Among them, 25 are Chilean institutions. Additionally, in this new edition, there are 83 institutions that were not previously ranked.
UC Chile’s favorable position is primarily based on its reputation, both among academics and employers. The results of these surveys place our university 38th for academic reputation, two places higher than the previous year, and 11th for employer reputation, eight places higher than last year, globally.
On a global scale, the 2024 ranking is once again led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), followed by the University of Cambridge (ranked 2nd), and Oxford (ranked 3rd). Harvard moved up one position from 5th to 4th, while Stanford dropped from 3rd to 5th. This year, two institutions enter the prestigious group of the world’s top 10: the University of Singapore (ranked 8th) and the University of California, Berkeley (ranked 10th).
In Latin America, the highest-ranked institution is the University of Sao Paulo, ranking 85th in the world. It is followed by the Universidad Autónoma de México in 93rd, and the Universidad de Buenos Aires at 95th. The University of Buenos Aires and the Monterrey Institute of Technology are the only Latin American universities in the top 200 that have dropped in position compared to the previous year. Other Latin American universities in the top 200 of the QS World University Rankings include the UC Chile (ranked 103rd), the Universidad de Chile (ranked 159th), the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ranked 184th), and the Universidad de Los Andes de Colombia (ranked 198th).
UC Chile in the Top 7% of Large University Institutions
According to President Ignacio Sánchez, these results are a great joy for the university community and for Chile, as they show continuous progress in almost all areas, from academic training and student employability to scientific preparation and engagement with the community.
"I want to highlight that this time around, nearly 2,500 institutions were evaluated, which means that Universidad Católica is in the top 7% of large university institutions. This has been steadily improving and advancing over the past ten years, with continuous growth in the quality of the institution," emphasized the highest academic authority of the university.
Sánchez also pointed out that the results demonstrate great commitment and work from the entire community, including professors, students, researchers, professionals, and administrative staff, who ensure that processes are carried out in the best possible way and that the university's presence in the academic environment of our country stands out day by day.
"We have also achieved impressive leadership at the national level, as shown in the Latin American ranking, where we have remained at the top in the region for almost six years, along with other indicators.”
In summary, President Sánchez sees this as great news that reinforces our commitment to attracting top students and professors, and to further developing sciences, arts, and humanities at our university with dedication and persistence.
On his part, Provost Guillermo Marshall said: "We are proud of UC Chile's outstanding position in the new QS World Ranking, which it has achieved thanks to its great reputation among academics and employers. In addition to that, the good employment outcomes of our graduates and our institution's efforts to advance sustainability have contributed to this important recognition."
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)
The British agency Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has been publishing the QS World University Rankings since 2004. It is one of the most recognized and internationally used university rankings. QS also has developed other reports such as the QS World University Rankings by subject and the QS Latin American University Rankings, using slightly different methodologies from the global report.
This year, QS made significant modifications to the methodology of its global ranking, adding three new indicators to the existing six (academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio). The new indicators introduced this year are: international research network, employment outcomes, and sustainability.
About the Indicators
All the indicators analyzed by QS are normalized and expressed in relative scores ranging from 0 to 100. Regarding the indicators:
- The reputation indicators are associated with the surveys conducted by QS among academics and employers worldwide. The current version considered over 151,000 responses from academics and over 99,000 responses from employers from various countries.
- The "citations per faculty" indicator measures the average number of citations received by each faculty member based on publications indexed in SCOPUS. This metric aims to estimate the impact and quality of the scientific work produced by universities.
- The faculty/student ratio and the percentages of international faculty and students are based on information provided by the institutions themselves.
- The international research network (IRN) is one of the new indicators considered in the current version of the ranking. It evaluates the richness and diversity of an institution's international research partnerships.
- The employment outcomes indicator measures the institutions' ability to ensure a high level of employability for their graduates while nurturing future leaders who will have an impact in their respective fields.
- The sustainability indicator is extracted from the QS Sustainability Ranking and assesses the social and environmental impact of universities as centers of education and research.
It is important to note that the QS global ranking has a different methodology from the QS Latin American ranking, some indicators used are the same, while others differ. Therefore, when analyzing the position of Latin American universities in the QS global ranking, the results may differ from the regional version of the QS ranking.
