Externado de Colombia ranks third among the top universities in the country. Three national institutions ranked among the best 410 in the world, according to the QS University World 2019 Rankings

Three universities in the country, Nacional de Colombia, Andes, and the Externado de Colombia, were classified among the best 410 universities in the world, according to the annual ranking by the British firm QS, based on strict criteria.

This time, the Universidad de los Andes was ranked best in the country by the QS World University Rankings listings of higher education institutions throughout the world. The Universidad de los Andes ranked 272 overall; the Universidad Nacional, in second place, ranked 275, followed by the Externado, ranked 407 among the best universities in the planet.

Following, was the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (521-530) and the University of Antioquia (701-705). The Universities EAFIT, La Sabana, Universidad del Norte, Universidad del Rosario, Universidad del Valle, and the Universidad Industrial de Santander are listed in the 801-1000 range. A total of 11 Colombian universities were recognized by the QS, one more than the previous listing.

QS World University Rankings® is a listing of the best universities in the world; QS is, possibly, the best known and most respected in its kind, involving an internationally renowned scholar Advisory Council.

Evaluations are based on four fundamental matrixes: research, education, employability, and internationalization. The methodology is based on six distinctive indicators: Academic Reputation; Employer Reputation; Faculty/Student Ratio; Citations per Faculty; International Faculty; International Students.

According to the QS report, reproduced by the Colombian press, the universities in Colombia maintained their position in aspects such as employability, measured by the employer reputation indicator. However, there is a long way to go regarding research with global impact, reflected in the number of citations in international scientific/academic journals. Likewise, the faculty/student ratio for national universities is not favorable, as, in general, there is an excessive number of students for each classroom.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was confirmed by the 2019 QS World University Rankings as the top university in the world, followed by Stanford University (California) and Harvard University.

The first ranked Latin American University is the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), followed by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the University of Sao Paulo, and the Pontificia Católica de Chile.

According to the QS information, the classification is created for current and future students, academics, and Governments around the world, with the aim “to highlight the multi-faceted activities of universities, provide a global comparison of their achievements, and assess their efforts to become or remain as leading institutions.”

In creating the listing of qualifiers this year, 10.3 million publications listed in the Bibliometric Scopus/Elsevier databases were analyzed to identify the scientific citations for each University; a survey was conducted with over 70 thousand academics and approximately 40 thousand employees. Also, a total of 3800 institutions were evaluated.