Seven local universities among top 1,000 in global survey

AUB ranks third in the Arab World

Seven Lebanese universities were ranked in the top 1,000 universities in the world by Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) World University Rankings 2020.

The American University of Beirut (AUB) was ranked 244 among 1,000 universities, followed by Saint Joseph University (USJ) at 561-570, the Lebanese American University and Balamand University were ranked 581-590, Holy Spirit of Kaslik (USEK) 601-650, Beirut Arab University and Notre Dame University (NDU) at 801-1,000.

AUB was the third most highly ranked university in the Arab region, beaten by King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (KSA), and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran, KSA.

QS ranks universities according to a set of weighted criteria, namely academic reputation (40 percent), employer reputation (ten percent), faculty/student ratio (20 percent), citations per faculty (20 percent), the ratio of international faculty (five percent), and the ration of international students (five percent).

AUB outperformed other local universities due its ratio of international students to total students (22 percent), compared to 18 percent for LAU, 16 percent for BAU, 15 percent for USEK, nine percent for Balamand University, and six percent for USJ.

AUB has a “high” research rating, compared to a research rating of “medium” for all other local universities in the rankings. USEK enjoyed the highest international staff to total staff ratio (45 percent), followed by LAU (40 percent), and AUB (32 percent).