The QS (Quacquarelli Symonds Limited) Rankings have seven New Zealand universities in the top 500 worldwide but while most have taken a hit in the rankings, the University of Waikato has maintained its position in the 401-410 band out of the 3000 ranked universities.
The QS rankings are generally considered among the most influential of university ranking systems and are based on academic and employer surveys, research citations for each subject area, the ratio of students to staff and the number of international students and staff at the university.
The University of Waikato lifted its ranking 26 places in the ‘Employer Reputation’ category while it also improved in the ‘Arts and Humanities’ subject area (up from 311 to 244+) and the ‘Social Sciences and Management’ category (125+, up from 210+ last year).
QS head of research Ben Sowter says historical trends show that universities need to continually improve to maintain their positions, due to the increasing global competitiveness.
New Zealand needs to remain globally competitive
“New Zealand’s overall performance in this year’s rankings shows stability but also indicates that continuous investment is needed to ensure that its higher education sector remains globally competitive. Initiatives such as the increased government funding announced last year to promote the country as a top study destination, are certainly positive signals.”
University of Waikato Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Alister Jones says maintaining its position in such a tight environment is a credible result.
“We are seeing the results of our investments in growth areas paying off,” he says.
“It is a difficult operating environment but I am incredibly proud that we have maintained our ranking where most others have fallen.”
Five subjects in the top 150 in the world
The rankings follow the QS Subject rankings, released earlier this year, which show the University of Waikato now has five subjects ranked in the top 150 in the world, with one – Education – ranked 46th.
The other four, all ranked from 101-150, are Modern Languages, Economics and Econometrics, Law and Computer Science and Info Systems. It is the first time Modern Languages has appeared in the rankings while Education and Economics/Econometrics both improved their rankings.
The QS Subject Rankings, released in February, assess nearly 800 universities around the world on the quality of 30 different subject areas.
New Zealand's top University under 50 years old
The University of Waikato is also one of the top 50 universities in the world in its peer group. It is ranked at 44 out of 5000 universities in the influential Times Higher Education Top 100 'Under 50' list, two positions better than when the rankings were last issued in 2013 and 14 places higher than the 2012 ranking. The rankings only include universities less than 50 years old, and 2014 marks the final year of the University of Waikato's inclusion in those ranks.