Victorian institutions no longer pulling their weight, QS world university rankings by subject reveals

Victorian universities have been outpaced in the global rankings by “fast-rising” international competitors. See how your uni fared.

Despite the University of Melbourne maintaining its position as Australia’s top institution, more than half of its subjects achieved marginally lower scores than last year.

Victorian universities have again been outranked by their international counterparts, after performing worse off across some faculties compared to last year.

The latest QS world university rankings by subject report found the University of Melbourne, Monash, La Trobe, Victoria University and Swinburne University of Technology all had more subjects that ranked lower this year compared to rankings that had improved.

Despite the University of Melbourne maintaining its position as Australia’s top institution, more than half of its subjects achieved marginally lower scores than last year with Monash University seeing similar results.

Victoria University ranked 51 in sports-related subjects, down from 43 last year.

Out of 54 subject areas at Monash University, just eight ranked higher than they did last year.

The institution’s Pharmacy and Pharmacology courses dropped two places down to fourth position, and was outdone by Harvard University which ranked first in the subject area.

At the University of Melbourne, the institution’s arts and humanities faculty declined by one position to 23rd place, in a trend seen across the country with QS Senior Vice-President Ben Sowter crediting this to funding cuts.

“Australia’s declining performance in arts and humanities reflects a global trend of underinvestment in these disciplines,” he said.

“If Australian institutions continue to deprioritise these subjects, they risk not only diminishing their global standing but also weakening their ability to produce graduates who can navigate complex, interconnected challenges.”

Despite the decrease in rankings for 31 subjects, all 57 of the University of Melbourne’s entries scored within the global top 100.

It also saw an improvement in its ranking for sports-related subjects, shifting from ninth place last year to sixth position, and jumped eight places in the natural sciences subject area to 49th place.

University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Professor Emma Johnston said the rankings reflect the institution’s commitment to academic excellence and the “invaluable contributions” of staff.

“Our students can be confident that they will gain valuable skills in our classrooms, labs, and lecture theatres that will prepare them well for their future careers,” she said.

“These global subject rankings not only reflect our strengths but also provide a valuable measure to inform continuous improvement.”

La Trobe University rose two places to 42 in nursing, with the institution also scoring better results in six other subject areas.

Elsewhere, sports-related subjects at Deakin University declined three positions to 14th place.

But despite six subjects performing worse than last year, Deakin University was one of two Victorian institutions to record more improvements in its subject rankings than downfalls in status.

Meanwhile architecture and built/environment subjects at RMIT dropped to 21st place from 18th, with eight other subject areas also enduring a similar fate by sliding down the rankings.

But on a more positive note, RMIT had the equal largest number of courses in Victoria that saw an improvement in their rankings this year, with 14 subjects scaling up the ladder.

Another institution which saw improvements was La Trobe University which rose two places to 42 in nursing, with the institution also scoring better results in six other subject areas.

La Trobe’s vice-chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said the results reflected the “significant investment” the university is making in health innovation.

“Our $170 million health innovation investment will deliver multiple new facilities across Victoria, including the already operational nursing and midwifery clinical simulation facilities in Bundoora, Bendigo, Wodonga and Mildura, and a new dentistry and oral health clinical school in Bendigo,” he said.

“The University is also investing heavily in research to support key areas of health innovation, including in rural health and through the Care Economy Research Institute (CERI).”

As for Swinburne University of Technology, it recorded the highest percentage of rankings that remained unchanged this year.

QS chief executive Jessica Turner said Australian universities must continue to invest in their courses or risk being outpaced by their “fast-rising” international competitors.

“For years, Australia has outperformed expectations … however the landscape is shifting,” she said.

All 57 of the University of Melbourne’s entries scored within the global top 100.

“As competition intensifies, Australian universities must ensure they build on this strong position through global collaboration and the development of skills needed for future jobs, sustaining their reputation among researchers and employers.”

Analysts examined the performance of more than 18,300 individual programs at more than 1700 universities to find which tertiary institutions were thriving.

QS used five indicators to determine where each university ranked, including academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations per paper, the “H-index” and international research network.

Originally published as Victorian institutions no longer pulling their weight, QS world university rankings by subject reveals