Australian university rankings

THE University of Melbourne takes the top spot again as Australia’s best university.

Eight Aussie universities have made the top 200 global list.

WHEN it comes to global university rankings, Australian institutions have a lot to be proud of according to the Times Higher Education (THE). The 2018 rankings published last month list 35 Australian universities among the world’s best, with eight Aussie universities in the world top 200.

The University of Melbourne is named Australia’s best university.

This is a very strong, system-wide performance and the result makes Australia one of the leading centres for higher education and research in the world,” says Phil Baty, editorial director of global rankings for THE. “What is particularly impressive is that the Australian universities are highly international — they draw leading talent from around the world to take academic posts and they’re also among the most attractive institutions for international students,” he says.

The University of Melbourne is Australia’s highest ranked university and is number 32 on the global list — one of two Aussie universities to make the top 50 overall world ranking.

Unsurprisingly, the university attracts the highest number of international students in the country — there are more than 12,000 international students enrolled from 130 different countries. The Australian National University follows The University of Melbourne (38), University of Sydney (61), closely followed by University of Queensland (65) and Monash University (80), is Melbourne’s second highest ranked institute.

While Australian universities have performed quite well and rankings have increased, they do fall short when compared to other English speaking countries. “The US utterly dominates the world rankings, with 148 ranked institutions, and the UK comes second, with 91 ranked institutions,” says Baty.

Oxford graduates have more than one reason to smile.

In the global rankings, The University of Oxford takes the top spot for the second year running, followed by Cambridge, California Institute of Technology and Stanford at equal third, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is not a surprising result — US universities, or at least the private institutions, can command huge tuition fees and are far better resourced than Australian institutions. Universities on our doorstep might be the ones to watch, however. Peking University has risen two places to joint 27th (on par with New York University) and Tsinghua University has climbed five places to 30th, overtaking the University of Melbourne. The National University of Singapore is Asia’s top university and sits at joint 22nd.

The National University of Singapore, founded in 1905, is named Asia's top university.

So how can Australian institutions continue to improve their ranking and what will it take to nudge into the top 10 in the future?

“You have to be excellent across a wide range of areas and activities to make the top echelons of the THE World University Rankings — we use a comprehensive and balanced range of 13 separate performance indicators, to assess each institution, covering teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook,” says Baty. “But perhaps the most important factor in success is money — you can’t be a world class university without the resources to attract leading talent and provide the right facilities,” he says.

HOW AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES RANK IN THE WORLD*

1 University of Melbourne, Melbourne (World University Rank 32)

2 Australian National University, Canberra (48)

3 University of Sydney, Sydney (61)

4 University of Queensland, Brisbane (65)

5 Monash University, Melbourne (=80)

6 University of New South Wales, Kensington (85)

7 University of Western Australia, Perth (=111)

8 University of Adelaide, Adelaide (=134)

=9 James Cook University, Townsville (201—250)

=9 Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (201—250)

=9 University of South Australia, Adelaide (201—250)

=9 University of Technology Sydney, Sydney (201—250)

=13 Griffith University, Brisbane (251—300)

=13 Macquarie University, Sydney (251—300)

=13 University of Newcastle, Callaghan (251—300)

=13 University of Wollongong, Wollongong (251—300)

=17 Charles Darwin University, Casuarina (301—350)

=17 Deakin University, Geelong (301—350)

=17 Flinders University, Adelaide (301—350)

=17 University of Tasmania, Hobart (301—350)

=17 Victoria University, Melbourne (301—350)

=22 University of Canberra, Canberra (351—400)

=22 Curtin University, Perth (351—400)

=22 La Trobe University, Melbourne (351—400)

=25 Murdoch University, Murdoch (401—500)

=25 RMIT University, Melbourne (401—500)

=25 Southern Cross University, Lismore (401—500)

=25 Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (401—500)

=25 Western Sydney University, Sydney (401—500)

=30 Australian Catholic University, Sydney (501—600)

=30 Bond University, Gold Coast (501—600)

=30 Central Queensland University, Rockhampton (501—600)

=30 Edith Cowan University, Joondalup (501—600)

=30 University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast (501—600)

35 University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba (601—800)

*Times Higher Education (timeshighereducation.com)