U of T ranked second among North American public universities, among top 25 globally: QS World University Rankings

The University of Toronto is ranked first in Canada, second among North American public universities and among the top 25 institutions globally in the latest QS World University Rankings.

U of T continued to be recognized as one of the world’s leading public universities in the highly regarded annual ranking, placing just behind the University of California, Berkeley in North America. 

The ranking, the largest-ever by U.K. analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds, was released June 4 and placed U of T first in Canada and 25^th overall among more than 1,500 institutions. 

U of T’s performance was buoyed by its scores for academic reputation, employer reputation, employment outcomes, international reach and sustainability – a category in which it ranked first in the world.

“This ranking affirms once again that the University of Toronto provides a world-class education, generates important new research and prepares our graduates for leadership in virtually every field,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. 

QS sampled a broader swath of schools for the 21^st edition of the global ranking, nearly doubling the number of institutions it evaluated to determine its published list of 1,500 universities across 106 education systems.

This year’s ranking also saw a reshuffling among the top echelon as universities from Asia and Europe continued to climb the charts. Several elite U.S. universities experienced double-digit drops, while U of T was down four spots compared to last year.

Nine weighted indicators are used to calculate a university’s overall score in the ranking. Based on a survey of international scholars, academic reputation carries the most weight at 30 per cent. U of T ranked 11^th globally on that front.

U of T also earned top marks for employer reputation, which accounts for 15 per cent of the score, based on a survey of employers from around the world.

Other indicators considered include: faculty-student ratio; citations per faculty; international faculty; international students; international research network; employment outcomes; and sustainability, where U of T took top spot.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial College London and University of Oxford took the top three spots in the ranking. 

Alongside U of T, three other Canadian universities made the top 100: McGill University (29^th), University of British Columbia (38^th) and University of Alberta (96^th).

U of T is ranked first in Canada and among the top 25 universities globally in the five most closely watched international rankings: QS World University Rankings, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities, Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.