Australian universities’ reputation for world-class education is slipping. Here’s how they fare on the global scale
3 min read
Australia’s universities have taken a hit on global rankings with just one local institution set to hold onto its top-50 spot next year.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings releases an annual list and for 2024, it compares and ranks 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions.
While Australia’s highest-ranking institution, the University of Melbourne, remains at number 34, over two-thirds of all local universities fell in ranking.
Here’s what you need to know.
What are the top-ranking universities in the world?
- First: University of Oxford, UK
- Second: Stanford University, US
- Third: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US
- Fourth: Harvard University, US
- Fifth: University of Cambridge, UK
You can see the full list on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings website.
How did Australian universities fare?
Australia has six universities in the top 100 and 11 in the top 200.
University of Adelaide saw the largest drop, exiting the top 100 after falling 23 places.
Five universities have held onto their top 100 spots: University of Melbourne, Monash University, the University of Sydney, Australian National University and the University of Queensland.
However, the University of Queensland has moved down the ranks from 53 to 70.
The highest ranking Australian university still goes to the University of Melbourne, steadfast in 34th place.
These are the universities that have improved in ranking:
- Queensland University of Technology
- RMIT University
- Swinburne University of Technology
- University of Tasmania
- Murdoch University
- Victoria University
- Central Queensland University
- Federation University Australia
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Charles Sturt University
Why have Australia’s uni rankings slipped?
Associate professor at the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education Gwilym Croucher believes the COVID pandemic had a role to play in Australia’s slipping performance in this sector.
Australia’s closed borders for much of 2020 and 2021 had clear negative reputational effects as indicated in the rankings performance, he told Times Higher Education.
“While after the pandemic many high-ranking Australian universities fared relatively well financially, a general change in their ranking positions may also reflect the disruption to teaching and research caused by extended lockdowns,” he added.
How did Australian universities rank?
Here’s where 37 Australian universities ranked on the 2024 list — those in the first 200 institutions are numbered individually, with the rest being lumped together in numbered groups:
- #34: University of Melbourne
- #54: Monash University
- #60: University of Sydney
- #67: Australian National University
- #70: University of Queensland
- #84: UNSW Sydney
- #111: University of Adelaide
- #143: University of Western Australia
- #148: University of Technology Sydney
- #180: Macquarie University
- #199: Queensland University of Technology
- #201–250: Curtin University
- #201–250: University of Newcastle
- #201–250: Swinburne University of Technology
- #201–250: University of Wollongong
- #251–300: Deakin University
- #251–300: Griffith University
- #251–300: La Trobe University
- #251–300: RMIT University
- #251–300: University of Tasmania
- #301–350: Flinders University
- #301–350: University of South Australia
- #301–350: Western Sydney University
- #351–400: University of Canberra
- #351–400: Edith Cowan University
- #351–400: James Cook University
- #351–400: Murdoch University
- #351–400: University of Southern Queensland
- #401–500: Australian Catholic University
- #401–500: Bond University
- #401–500: Charles Darwin University
- #401–500: Victoria University
- #501–600: Central Queensland University
- #501–600: Southern Cross University
- #501–600: University of Sunshine Coast
- #601–800: Federation University Australia
- #801–1000: Charles Sturt University
How do they work out the rankings?
Universities are judged based on five more performance indicators this year, which brings the criteria to a total of 18.
The indicators are categorised into five main groups, which underpins each ranking.
Here’s a breakdown of the groupings where each element contributes to the final score to varying degrees:
Teaching
- Teaching reputation
- Student–staff ratio
- Doctorate–bachelor ratio
- Institutional income
Research environment
- Research reputation
- Research income
- Research productivity
Research quality
- Citation Impact
- Research strength
- Research excellence
- Research influence
Industry
International outlook
- International students
- International staff
- International co-authorship
Over 60,000 survey responses from scholars all around the world and over 134 million citations across 16.5 million research publications were analysed to determine the score.
How did Australian universities rank in 2023?
- #34: University of Melbourne
- #44: Monash University
- #53: The University of Queensland
- #54: University of Sydney
- #62: Australian National University
- #71 UNSW Sydney
- #88 University of Adelaide
- #131 The University of Western Australia
- #133 University of Technology Sydney
- #175 Macquarie University
- #201–250 Curtin University
- #201–250 University of Newcastle
- #201–250 Queensland University of Technology
- #201–250 Western Sydney University
- #201–250 University of Wollongong
- #251–300 Australian Catholic University
- #251–300 Bond University
- #251–300 University of Canberra
- #251–300 Deakin University
- #251–300 Griffith University
- #251–300 La Trobe University
- #301–350 Flinders University
- #301–350 RMIT University
- #301–350 University of South Australia
- #301–350 University of Southern Queensland
- #301–350 Swinburne University of Technology
- #301–350 University of Tasmania
- #351–400 Charles Darwin University
- #351–400 Edith Cowan University, Western Australia
- #351–400 James Cook University
- #401–500 Murdoch University
- #501–600 Victoria University
- #601–800 Central Queensland University
- #601–800 Federation University Australia
- #601–800 Southern Cross University
- #601–800 University of the Sunshine Coast
- #1001–1200 Charles Sturt University
Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024
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