‘Serious warning signs’: Australian unis slide in global rankings

The global rankings of Australia’s best universities have tumbled, with the country’s top tertiary institution, the University of Melbourne, handed its worst ever rating by one of the world’s most prestigious higher education indices.

The Times Higher Education (THE) index has downgraded Melbourne from the 37th-best university in the world to the 39th, as most of the local tertiary sector’s elite institutions – including Monash University, the University of Sydney, University of Queensland and the Australian National University – also went backwards in the 2025 rankings.

The University of Melbourne has fallen from 37th to 39th position in the latest Times Higher Education ranking of world universities.Credit: Penny Stephens

The index’s researchers found the global academic reputations and funding levels of Australian universities were sliding, and the British magazine warned of worse to come, with the federal government’s controversial cuts to international student numbers expected to put more pressure on local universities.

Seventeen of the nation’s universities suffered falls in the rankings released on Wednesday, with seven of them assigned their worst positions since the 2016 index.

Only four Australian universities improved their rankings in this year’s index.

Sydney’s University of NSW and Macquarie University moved from 84th to 83rd and from 180th to 178th respectively; Melbourne’s Deakin University moved into the 201-250 band, and regional Victoria’s Federation University Australia made it into the 401-500 band – a big improvement from the 601-800 bracket.

The loss of international student revenue amid COVID border closures, along with some of the world’s longest lockdowns were cited by the index as factors contributing to the disappointing results, with “inflation and flat domestic demand leaving them more vulnerable than before COVID”.

The authors of the index agreed with the position of the Group of Eight, a body that represents the country’s most prestigious universities, that its members – particularly the big Sydney and Melbourne institutions – were likely to be hit hardest by the federal government’s limits on international student numbers.

Times Higher Education spokesman Phil Baty said Australia continued to offer some of the world’s best universities, but that this year’s index sent “serious warning signs”.

“Australian universities are losing ground in … their global academic reputation, funding levels, and perhaps most alarmingly – in areas of great traditional strength: international research collaboration and the attraction of international talent,” Baty said.

“Many in the sector are very worried about forthcoming new international student caps, which may further erode income for some top institutions, as well as diminish Australia’s world-leading reputation as an open and internationally facing sector.”

The rankings, which are closely watched in the sector and used by universities in their marketing efforts, are based on performance indicators across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry and international outlook.

However, many experts are sceptical of the utility of the index in giving a clear picture of the state of the sector. Australian National University professor Andrew Norton told The Age that the rankings were based on a composite of factors that did not necessarily reflect an institution’s priorities.

“These are not necessarily the factors that the institutions prioritise and are not necessarily the factors that students, when selecting the university, would prioritise,” Norton said.

Monash University declined to comment and the University of Melbourne did not respond to questions about its lower ranking in this year’s index.

Instead, vice chancellor Duncan Maskell said he was focused on the uni retaining its position as the highest-ranked in Australia.

“The results reaffirm our commitment to excellence in education and research, and serve as a motivation for us to continue delivering to the highest standards,” he said.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare also warned about putting too much emphasis on ratings.

“Universities are not just about rankings. They should be about students,” he said.

“They should be about helping more Australian students from all walks of life, from the city and the bush, get a crack at uni and ultimately build a career.

“We’ve got a good higher education system in Australia, but the truth is it can be a lot better and fairer.

“That’s what the Universities Accord reforms I am implementing are all about.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.