Khalifa University retains UAE top spot in new global education rankings

King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia has become the first Middle East institute to reach the top 150 of the QS World University Rankings

Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi remains the country's top seat of learning. Chris Whiteoak/The National

Universities in the UAE and in the region have improved their standings in a new global higher education league table.

Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi cemented its place as the best in the country, moving up from 268th position last year to 211th in the 2020 QS World University Rankings.

For the first time, the region has a seat of learning in the top 150 in the world as King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia is now ranked 143, up from 186 last year.

According to global higher education analysts Quacquarelli Symonds, which publishes the annual ratings, this is the highest rank ever achieved by a university in the region.

The QS World University Rankings assess the world’s top 1,000 universities.

The universities are ranked on academic and employer reputation, citations per faculty, faculty-student ratio, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio.

2020 rankings

"This year's edition of the QS World University Rankings offers further evidence of a continued shift in the global education hierarchy,' said Ben Sowter, director of research at QS.

"Asia’s record number of top-100 universities is one example. The remarkable rise of universities across the Middle East provides further indication that higher education has never been so competitive.

"The improvement of the region’s universities is based on high levels of internationalization – in particular, the result of efforts to attract talented researchers from across the world to conduct their inquiries in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates.”

The institute improved its academic standing, graduate employability, and research impact and in the number of citations per faculty member.

It also ranks among the global top-200 for QS’s Employer Reputation indicator.

In total, 43 Middle Eastern universities placed among the world’s top 1,000. Of those 43 universities, 26 have risen in rank, with only 12 having declined in rank in the past year.

United Arab Emirates University is now ranked at 284, up from 329 last year, and American University of Sharjah is rated at 348, up from 371.

American University in Dubai, University of Sharjah, Abu Dhabi University, Ajman University, and Zayed University also featured in the 1,000-strong list.

Jack Moran, QS spokesman, said that all eight UAE universities included in the rankings had made improvements in the past 12 months.

“The UAE’s universities are highly international. All eight universities achieved perfect scores in our International Faculty indicator, while five achieve perfect scores in our International Students indicator,” said Mr Moran.

“Strategies to increase research impact are imperative if the UAE is to continue improving its performance,” he said.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology was named the world’s best university for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Stanford University at second position and Harvard University at third place.

The UK’s top performer is the University of Oxford, which has fallen from fourth to fifth position, while the University of Cambridge remains seventh.