Rankings

Italian universities lose competitiveness: in the Cwur world ranking 3 out of 4 are in decline

La Sapienza University of Rome drops to 124th place, first among Italian universities; Padua 173rd, Milan 186th

13 May 2024

Università, quando studiare all'estero è un’opportunità di crescita

3' min read

Italy is losing competitiveness internationally in the field of university education. This is stated by the 2024 edition of the ranking drawn up annually by the Center World University Rankings (Cwur). While it is true that 67 Italian universities appear on this year's list, 75% of them are losing positions. The Roman university La Sapienza - which leads the Italian ranking - loses eight positions, dropping to 124th place. The University of Padua (which drops from 171st to 173rd place) and the University of Milan (from 180th to 186th) also drop.

In this year's ranking, only 16 universities improve their performance compared to last year, while 51 lose position. The decline of Italian universities is due to declining research results in a context of increasing global competition from well-funded universities.

The University La Sapienza of Rome drops eight places to 124th. It loses positions in research, but improves in the quality of education, employability and quality of faculty indicators. The University of Padua loses two positions to 173rd place, while the University of Milan drops six positions to 186th place - ahead of the University of Bologna at number 201 and the University of Turin at 245th place.

Completing the Italian top ten are the University of Naples Federico II (253), the University of Florence (267), the University of Genoa (286), the University of Pisa (288) and the University of Pavia (321). "It is clear," comments Nadim Mahassen, president of the Center for World University Rankings, "that Italy's position in the field of education and research is increasingly under pressure as a result of the growth of higher education systems around the world; in China alone, investment in research has grown by 33 per cent. Without further public investment in research and development, Italy risks a further decline in its performance in the future'.

Four parameters were taken into account in the study: quality of education (25 per cent), employability (25 per cent), quality of teaching staff (10 per cent) and research (40 per cent). This year, 20,966 universities were ranked and those that came out on top made it onto the 'Global 2000' list, which includes universities and research institutions from 94 countries.

Harvard is confirmed first in the world

For the thirteenth consecutive year, it is Harvard the most prestigious university in the world according to the Center World University Rankings (Cwur), followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Mit) and Stanford. The fifth and fourth places are occupied by Cambridge and Oxford, the only two public universities at the top of the ranking. Completing the top ten are four Ivy League universities (Princeton, Columbia, Pennsylvania) and Caltech in Pasadena.

Although the US is the most represented country in the ranking (with 329 universities), it too is under pressure from growing international competition, especially from China. China, in fact, saw 95 per cent of its 324 universities improve their ranking this year.

In Europe, 639 universities are among the top two thousand

Europe also remains an important power in the ranking, with 639 institutions in the top 2,000: 92 in the UK, 73 in France and 69 in Germany. Russia has 46 representatives in the Global 2000 - three more than last year - with 18 universities rising and 28 falling in the rankings. The best Russian university this year is Moscow State University, ranked 233rd worldwide. The top ten universities in Europe this year are: Cambridge (UK), Oxford (UK), Psl (France), Ucl (UK), Imperial College (UK), Paris Saclay (France, 31st), ETH Zurich (Switzerland, 32nd), Paris City University (France, 33rd), Sorbonne University (France, 36th) and Copenhagen (Denmark, 38th).

China on the rise

China's rapid rise in the rankings is due to the country's continued investment in higher education. Ninety-five per cent of Chinese universities are ranked better than last year, with Tsinghua University leading the way in 43rd place. While the University of Tokyo is still the highest scoring Asian institution, ranking 13th globally, 61% of Japan's 110 representatives in the Global 2000 lost ground this year due to low government spending on tertiary education in previous years. Finally, Indian universities and institutes had mixed results this year, with 32 universities growing and 33 declining.

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