US has highest number of top departments since 2018

Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States are each home to the world’s best department for 12 academic subjects, according to the 11th edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject.

The 2021 instalment of QS’s global university performance comparison offers independent data on the performance of 2,954 departments at 215 American universities, across 51 academic disciplines.

The American share of number-one spots is at its highest since 2018, when it had 34/48 top positions.

The American share of top-10 positions has increased again after two years of successive decline. The same trend is visible in the top-20, top-50 and top-100 brackets.

This year Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has lost its outright ascendancy, having edged Harvard out by 12 number-one positions to 11 in 2020’s edition of the rankings. However, both American luminaries have extended the gap between them and their closest competitor: the University of Oxford’s share of number-one spots has decreased from eight to five year on year.

It is not only Harvard and MIT that assert their status as world leaders in specific academic disciplines. The list of American number ones also includes:

• New York University, which ranks as the world’s best philosophy school.

• The University of Notre Dame, world-leader for theology, divinity & religious studies.

• The Colorado School of Mines, holding top spot for mineral and mining engineering.

• The University of Pennsylvania, number one for nursing.

• The Juilliard School, which remains unparalleled for its performing arts programme.

According to QS, the consistent excellence achieved by American universities in global rankings is driven by their research prowess, with a strong emphasis on conducting research in areas that explore solutions to the most urgent issues facing humanity.

Data from QS’s research partners at Elsevier, which contributes to the QS World University Rankings by Subject, indicates that no country has produced more research into COVID-19 than the United States, which has been responsible for over one-quarter (26%) of all academic inquiry into the disease and its prevention, spread, treatment and socio-economic implications.

The United States also remains the world leader for climate change research, recording 15% of all environmental science papers indexed by Scopus; and it is also responsible for more medical research than any other nation (23%).

Jack Moran, QS spokesperson, said: “The last three or four years have provided increasing evidence of the difficulties faced by American higher education: the increasing competitiveness and economic strength of peer institutions, an often-adversarial political environment to navigate, and, often, the challenges created by dwindling public funding.”

“This year’s results, however, provide not a contradictory message but a complimentary one: that, while those challenges, and while that intensifying competition, still exist, American institutions are still consistently driving the research, graduate preparation and practical innovation necessary for the world to combat climate change, conquer COVID and tackle major health challenges – and they are doing so, often, to a greater extent than any other higher education sector in the world.

“The results also, therefore, provide a timely reminder that the new Biden administration is blessed with an outstanding pre-existing knowledge infrastructure, and is imperative that it receives sufficient support.”

Strong performance by Canada

It has been a good year for Canada in the rankings, with the number of Canadian programmes achieving top-10, top-20 and top-50 ranks increasing year on year, to their highest point in the 2018-21 period.

The University of Toronto possesses a higher number of world-class programmes than any university in the world, with 46 top-50 departments, outperforming the University of California, Los Angeles (43) and its compatriot, the University of British Columbia (41).

Nineteen Canadian programmes achieved top-10 positions in their subject. This is an increase on 2020 (18 top-10 programmes), 2019 (15) and 2018 (16).

Also, 53 Canadian programmes are ranked among the global top 20 this year. This is an increase on 2020 (49), 2019 (49) and 2018 (47).

And 155 Canadian programmes achieve top-50 ranks in 2021. This is an increase of 10% on 2020 (141) and also improves on 2019 (146) and 2018 (137).

Moran said: “With 6% of all programmes attaining a top-50 position across our tables, only Australia (8%), the United Kingdom (15%) and the United States (33%) possess a higher share of world-class departments.

“While we observe particularly strong representation for Canadian institutions in subjects like mining engineering and library & information management, there is no subject in which Canadian higher education is not offering outstanding provision.”