Two Belgian universities which consistently score high in education rankings have once again landed in the top 100 in the 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) released by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. One university dropped several places while the other climbed in the ranking.
The Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) and the University of Ghent (UGent) have been included in ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities. Since 2003, this ranking has included the world's top universities based on objective third-party data – for which it has been recognised not only as the precursor of global university rankings but also as the most trustworthy one. This year, more than 2,500 institutions were scrutinised.
Belgium's largest university, KU Leuven, scored the highest of the country's higher education institutions and was ranked 78th. It has been rising in this particular ranking for some years now: it ended in place 86 in last year's ranking and 95 in 2022.
"As a leading European research university, it offers a wide variety of academic programmes in Dutch and English (some 70 Master's programmes are taught in English), supported by high-quality interdisciplinary research," the ARWU ranking read. Its highest-ranking subjects are Communication (21st in the world), Dentistry & Oral Sciences (22nd) and Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences (22nd).
Earlier this year, the university was also the only one in Belgium to be included in the QS World University Rankings top 100, although it dropped two places to 63rd. In the same company's ranking of European universities, KU Leuven landed in 27th place.
Eight in top 1,000
While KU Leuven has risen several places in the ranking, UGent, which was the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium, has continued to lose ground, dropping from 74 in 2022 and 84 in 2023 to 90 in 2024. Its highest-ranking subjects are Veterinary Sciences (for which it ranks fifth in the world), as well as Nursing (12th in the world).
The university was Belgium's second-highest-ranking institution in the QS World University Rankings, while it moved up from 54 to 47 in the European ranking.
A total of eight Belgian universities were included in the expanded ranking of 1,000 institutions. The Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) ended in place 101-150 for the third year in a row, the French-language Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) ended in the 201-300 group, the University of Antwerp, Liège and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) all landed positions between 301 and 400, while Hasselt University in Limburg ended between place 701 and 800.
Harvard University topped the ranking list for the 22nd year, followed by Stanford and MIT. Paris-Saclay University was the highest-ranking insitution in continental Europe, landing in 12th place.
