QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), global analysts of higher education, recently published the eighteenth edition of the international university rankings. 1,300 universities out of nearly 2,000 listed worldwide were evaluated.
The Université Côte d’Azur ranks in the 701-750 category, dropping from last year’s rank of 601-650. It is ranked 19th among the 32 French universities listed.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) records a tenth consecutive year as the world number one. The University of Oxford has climbed to 2nd place for the first time since 2006, while Stanford University and the University of Cambridge share 3rd place. The best university in continental Europe is once again ETH Zurich in Switzerland, which ranks 8th.
The 2022 edition of the QS World University Rankings sees two French universities in the top 50 for the first time since 2016, demonstrating their exceptional ability to compete on the global stage. Université PSL, which officially gained its university status in 2019, climbs eight places to rank 44th in the world. Its fellow newcomer, Sorbonne University, created by merger in 2018, climbed eleven places over a year and is now ranked 72nd in the world.
32 French universities feature in the overall table, two more than last year.
Among these 32:
9 improve their ranking.
10 remain stable, neither improving nor declining
11 drop in ranking
2 are new entries
QS World University Rankings 2022: Ranked French Universities
44 Université PSL
49 Paris Polytechnic Institute
72 Sorbonne University
86 Université Paris-Saclay
130 École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
245 École des Ponts ParisTech
261 Sciences Po
261 Université de Paris
290 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
314 Université Grenoble Alpes
421 Université de Strasbourg
501-510 Aix-Marseille University
501-510 University of Bordeaux
521-530 Université de Montpellier
531-540 Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA)
551-560 Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III
601-650 University Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas
651-700 Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
701-750 Université Côte d’Azur
801-1000 CY Cergy Paris University
801-1000 Université de Lille
801-1000 Université de Lorraine
801-1000 Université de Nantes
801-1000 Université de Rennes 1
801-1000 Université Toulouse 1 Capitole
1001-1200 Paul Valéry University Montpellier
1001-1200 Université de Poitiers
1001-1200 Université de Toulouse II-Le Mirail
1001-1200 Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3
1001-1200 Université Lumière Lyon 2
1001-1200 Université Paris-Nanterre
1201+ Université de Caen Normandie
Over the past year, French universities continued their downward trend for the two QS reputation indicators. 21 out of the 32 ranked French universities obtained lower scores year-on-year in both the academic reputation indicator – which measures the sentiment of the global academic community – and the employer reputation indicator – which measures employer recognition of graduates from each institution.
French universities continue to struggle to provide adequate teaching capacity. In the faculty/student ratio, which serves as a proxy for the teaching resources of each institution, 27 out of the 32 featured French universities are declining.
There are more positive trends to observe in the QS research impact measure, Citations per Faculty. This is the only metric in which a majority of French universities are trending upward (18/32, 13 downward movements).
Sorbonne University is the most reputable French university according to the academic community surveyed by QS – it ranks 43rd globally in the “Academic Reputation” indicator, followed by Université PSL at 76th.
The Paris Polytechnic Institute is the preferred French university by international employers surveyed by QS, ranking 15th globally in the “Employer Reputation” indicator. It is followed by Paris-Saclay, at 19th place globally. These two universities also obtain the best ranking in France for the “Faculty to Student Ratio” indicator, ranking respectively 32nd and 36th globally.
