The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024

The fourteenth edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, an impartial comparative examination of academic quality encompassing 1500+ universities in 96 countries and territories spanning 55 disciplines, was announced by global higher education analyst QS Quacquarelli Symonds. In 2023, the QS rankings were viewed over 60 million times on TopUniversities.com and cited 124,000 times by media outlets and academic institutions globally.

Countries with the most top-10 entries in the rankings

	Ranked Universities	Ranked Entries	Top 10 entries
United States United Kingdom Switzerland Singapore Australia Canada Netherland China (Main Land) Italy Germany	213 103 27 5 36 32 21 101 53 60	3039 1569 220 103 797 646 328 882 577 774	244 148 31 29 17 17 13 8 8 5

Harvard University holds the top spot in the Arts and Humanities category of the QS World University Rankings. Following that, in that order, were Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Cambridge University, and Oxford University. Three universities in the UK and seven in the US are among the top ten in this discipline. Harvard University was the pioneer in the fields of medicine and the life sciences. According to the ranking, Oxford University, Stanford University, John Hopkins University, and MIT came in second, third, fourth, and fifth.

Top 5 Universities by QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024

Art and Humanities

1. Harvard University

2. University of Cambridge

3. University of Oxford

4. Stanford University

5. University of California, Berkeley

Engineering and Technology

1. Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT)

2. Stanford University

3. University of Oxford

4. University of Cambridge

5. University of California, Berkeley

Life Sciences and Medicine

1. Harvard University

2. University of Oxford

3. Johns Hopkins University

4. Stanford University

5. Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT)

Natural Sciences

1. Harvard University

2. 2. Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT)

3. 3. University of Oxford

4. 4. University of Cambridge

5. 5. Stanford University

Social Sciences and Management

1. Harvard University

2. University of Oxford

3. Stanford University

4. Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT)

5. University of Cambridge

Highlight

• US universities lead in 32 subjects. Harvard University is the world’s strongest-performing institution, first in 19 disciplines. MIT follows, leading in 11 subjects.

• UK institutions lead 16 subjects. The University of Oxford tops four, followed by the University of Cambridge, UCL, Royal College of Art, and Royal College of Music with two.

• Switzerland boasts the highest concentration of #1 entries (4) proportionally to its ranked universities. ETH Zurich leads in three subjects, making it Continental Europe’s strongest institution.

• Australia’s Universities of Melbourne and Sydney boast the world’s most top-100 subjects, 53 and 52.

• France is the most internationally collaborative research hub, with 23 entries among the top 10 for the International Research Network.

• Japan reverses more than five years of decline. 26% of its previously-ranked entries climb, 21% drop and 42% remain stable – an overall improvement of 5%.

• China is the third most represented country. It ranks in the top 10 for eight subjects. Tsinghua University achieves its three highest ranks, including top-performer, History of Art (5th).

• India’s ranked entries and overall performance soared by 19% and 17%, respectively.

• Brazil is Latin America’s most-represented country overall and among the top 100. Mexico boasts the region’s most top-20 entries (4).

• Saudi Arabia’s KFUPM offers the Arab Region’s highest-ranked programmes, Petroleum Engineering (5th) and Mineral & Mining Engineering (8th).

• Africa’s leader, Cape Town University, ranks 15th globally in Development Studies.
  
  
  
  

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