AUB tops Arab universities as per QS University rankings

BEIRUT: The 2017/2018 edition of the QS Arab Region University Rankings has placed the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the first position among 1,000 universities in the Arab world. This is the first time that AUB holds this position. AUB has ranked second to King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in the three previous editions of this regional ranking, which started in 2014/2015.

“This remarkable accomplishment is a matter of pride for all - students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of AUB - and it could not have been achieved without the collective effort, hard work, and determination of each and every member of the AUB community in the pursuit of excellence,” said AUB Provost Dr Mohamed Harajli.

In addition to ranking top overall, AUB has ranked among the top ten on five of the nine indicators: employer reputation (1st), web impact (5th), academic reputation (7th), papers per faculty (8th), and citations per paper (8th). In the remaining four indicators, AUB ranked among the top 40.

AUB has improved its rankings from the previous year on seven of the nine indicators, and maintained its status on the other two indicators. The climb in ranking was most significant in the areas of international faculty (up by 25 spots from last year’s ranking), international students (16 spots), faculty-student ratio (14 spots), and faculty with PhD (11 spots).

Regionally, AUB was followed by King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University, and United Arab Emirates University as per the QS Arab Region University Rankings. The American University in Cairo and the American University of Sharjah were ranked 6th and 8th, respectively. Saudi Arabia had nine universities ranked among the top 50 while Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates were each represented by seven universities among the top 50.

“While rankings are certainly not everything, we were quite pleased to learn that AUB was appropriately ranked as the finest university in the Arab world by the detailed and well-balanced QS ratings,” AUB President Dr. Fadlo R. Khuri said. “The results further cement the belief among many that AUB is indeed the finest university in the Arab world, yet there is much work to do if we are to be where we need to be, clearly recognized as one of the 100 finest universities in the world,” he concluded.

The methodology for the QS University Rankings for the Arab Region retains key indicators of the global university rankings while considering a set of performance metrics carefully tailored for the area, adapting to reflect regional priorities and challenges. Nine indicators were used in this QS regional ranking method, with the following weights of the total score: academic reputation (30 percent), employer reputation (20 percent), faculty-student ratio (20 percent), web impact (10 percent), papers per faculty (5 percent), citations per paper (5 percent), percent of faculty with PhD (5 percent), percent of international faculty (2.5 percent), and percent of international students (2.5 percent).