The University of Alberta has risen to rank among the world’s top 100 universities in the 2025 QS World University Rankings — continuing an upward trend in international post-secondary institutional rankings.
Ranked 96th in the world and fourth in Canada, the U of A moved up 15 places compared with last year’s global ranking in a pool of 1,503 published international institutions and 30 Canadian schools.
“Ranking among the top 100 universities in the world for excellence in research and teaching is an achievement everyone in our U of A community can feel proud of,” says U of A president Bill Flanagan.
The U of A’s improved ranking this year is the result of gains in key categories including sustainability, citations per faculty, employer reputation and international research.
“Our growing global reputation among researchers, educators and employers is a direct reflection of their collective efforts to solve challenges, bring about positive change and shape a more sustainable future for all,” says Flanagan.
The U of A’s highest-ranked indicator was sustainability, soaring to 28th worldwide from 170th last year based on the 2024 QS Sustainability Rankings released in December. With a core commitment to sustainability in its 10-year strategic plan, Shape, and a dedicated Sustainability Council leading learning opportunities and supporting research across its colleges and faculties, the university is one of the world’s foremost institutions in the global effort to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The U of A currently ranks seventh in the world in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which rate universities’ sustainability performance in research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.
In the international research network category, the university rose 13 places to rank 55th in the world and third in Canada. This indicator assesses the richness and diversity of an institution’s research partnerships. The U of A’s global partnerships encompass collaborations with thousands of organizations in the United States, India, Germany and Mexico, among many others.
The U of A also saw improvement in its ranking of citations per faculty, gaining 19 places to land at 194th in the world. This indicator is based on a ratio measuring the average number of citations per faculty member, calculated using Scopus data. The U of A is home to numerous researchers who rank among the most cited in the world in fields spanning the health sciences, natural and applied sciences, and social sciences and humanities.
In the employer reputation category, a metric designed to evaluate the perception employers have of post-secondary graduates, the U of A moved up 44 places to stand at 222nd in the world. The university ranked 99th in the world and fifth in Canada in the most recent QS Graduate Employability Rankings. Employment surveys of graduates show that 97 per cent are employed or self-employed within five years of graduating. And an alumni impact survey conducted in 2024 shows that many of the U of A’s 300,000-plus graduates have gone on to become employers themselves, founding 75,000 companies, employing 922,000 people around the world and collectively contributing $250 billion to the global economy each year.
Last year, the university placed 109th globally in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, up nine places from the previous year and 27 places since 2020. It also had its best performance in the history of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, ranking 91st in the world and fourth in Canada.
QS World University Rankings have been released every year since 2004 by Quacquarelli Symonds, an international higher education consultant agency. Five performance lenses are weighed to assess universities on their research and discovery, employability and outcomes, learning experience, global engagement and sustainability.