QS World University Rankings 2020

The Universidad de los Andes was ranked 234 out of 1,000 institutions by the British company Quacquarelli Symonds. The Colombian university moved up 38 places from the previous year’s rankings. This is the highest position it has occupied in the history of this prestigious ranking.

Taking into consideration that, globally, there are approximately 26,000 universities, Los Andes is in the top 1%.

What stands out from this year’s ranking is the 30% improvement in employer reliability. Out of a possible 100 points, the Universidad de los Andes was awarded 97.9, which means it is ranked 56 in the world: up 24 places from the previous year. This item measures employers’ opinions on universities in terms of who has the best graduates, and this year’s ranking evaluated 45,000 answers.

It is relevant to point out that for academic reputation, the most important criteria rated by QS, the university placed 139 in the world. This was significant for the university’s higher ranking this year.

The British company measures, among other criteria, the global perception of the best institutions in terms of research, and Los Andes was awarded five more points compared to last year. The university currently has 155 research groups, and last year it published 1,052 documents in Scopus and 741 in ISI Web of Knowledge.

Another parameter that contributed to the Colombian university climbing the rankings is the teaching staff to student ratio. Los Andes currently has 19,000 students and 1,892 full and part-time professors of whom 163 are international. The percentage of professors from other countries is higher in Los Andes than the global average.

The QS rankings awards the criteria it evaluates with a different value. The six indicators it considers are: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), faculty/ student ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), number of international professors (5%), and percentage of international students (5%).

The yearly QS World University Rankings is an important higher education indicator on a global level, and they are widely consulted by students around the world who want to study abroad.