HSE University Enters the QS Ranking’s Top 300 For First Time

HSE University took 298^th place in the 2021 QS World University Rankings, improving its ranking by 24 positions compared to last year and entering the first quartile of the world’s leading universities. HSE University now ranks among the world’s top 300 universities in two international rankings: the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The main factor that contributed to HSE’s improved standing in the rankings is its academic reputation. The University’s ranking in this category improved by 50 positions. Over the past 5 years, HSE’s reputational ranking has risen by more than 300 points.

HSE is the 4^th highest ranking Russian university in this ranking category. University reputation is calculated based on a survey of more than 102,000 scholars around the world. While it usually takes universities more than a decade or a century to build a strong academic reputation, in just 27 years, HSE University has built a scholarly reputation that places it alongside longstanding universities such as the 200-years-old Heriot-Watte University (UK) or ENS Paris-Saclay (France), which was founded over 120 years ago.

‘Project 5-100, the Russian Academic Excellence Project, has helped HSE University build its academic reputation,’ said HSE Vice Rector Maria Yukdevich. ‘We have benefited from the “football effect”—it is important to be competitive, but it is also important to play on a strong team. In this sense, the collective reputation of the Project 5-100 universities helps both HSE and the other participating universities. Our university contributes to this reputation, both in terms of the collective reputation and its own, by investing in breakthrough projects and participating in the development of global academic agenda.’

Since 2015, the share of international students at HSE University has more than tripled.

HSE University also enjoys more and more success in the QS subject rankings. The University’s presence in the subject rankings has increased fivefold, expanding from four to 20 subjects. The number of subjects at HSE that boast a top 100 international ranking has increased from one to five.

HSE has been participating in Project 5-100 since 2013, and during this time it has increased its ranking by more than 200 positions, thereby demonstrating a continuous improvement.

‘This year, we see that the vast majority of Russian universities have improved their standing in the ranking,’ said HSE University Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov. ‘This means that the Russian education system is on the rise and that it is strengthening its standing on the international arena. It is worth noting that three Russian universities—Moscow State University, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and HSE University—now rank among the top 300 universities on two international university rankings: the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.’

The QS World University Rankings are published annually by the British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and are based on the following indicators:

 Academic reputation (40%)

 Employer reputation (10%)

 International faculty ratio / International student ratio (5% each)

 Faculty/student ratio (20%)

Citations per faculty member (20%)

Reputation indicators are based on the results of surveys of academic experts and employers.

Irina Karelina, Senior Director for Strategic Planning, HSE

It is worth noting that the higher a university rises in the rankings, the slower its rate of advancement becomes. It is especially difficult for universities that are large (with enrollments of more than 20,000 students) and young (founded less than 50 years ago) to advance. There is only one university in Project 5-100 that fits both of these parameters: HSE University. HSE was founded in 1992, yet it places among Russia’s top 3 universities in terms of the number of positions it occupies in the subject rankings, and, according to the results of the newest QS ranking, it places among the top 25% of universities worldwide. Academic reputation takes years to build. It takes time to gain international recognition among global academic community for the quality of research and expert assessment the university demonstrates.

• HSE University and QS:

  298

  is HSE University's current QS world ranking after rising 24 places on last year.

  Over 200

  is the number of places in the ranking HSE has climbed in the last 5 years

  50

  is the number of places by which HSE improved its standing in terms of academic reputation. It is has risen more than 300 places in this category over the past 5 years.