November 24, 2015

Wollongong judged 17th best modern university in the world against growing global competition

UOW named as one of the best modern universities in the world in latest QS Top 50 Under 50 Rankings. 

Against a backdrop of growing global competition, UOW has markedly improved its standing as one of the world’s best modern universities with the release today of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Top 50 under 50 rankings for 2015.

UOW, which gained its independence as a university in 1975, has jumped from 26^th spot in 2014 to being judged the 17^th best modern university in the world under 50 years of age. Eight universities in Australia made the Top 50 list making Australia the world’s most featured country in the latest QS rankings.

UOW has achieved its top standing despite QS noting that Asian universities “continue to trailblaze their way towards the highest echelons of the higher education ladder”. Competition from new universities in places like Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Korea has been particularly strong.

The Top 50 under 50 is a subset ranking following on from the major 2015 QS World University Rankings announced in September this year. The Top 50 Under 50 universities will be launched in Melbourne later this morning at the QS Young Universities Forum.

QS said Australia’s newest universities were “proving themselves to be upwardly mobile, providing increasingly excellent educational opportunities”.

UOW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings, CBE, described the latest result as extremely encouraging in light of the increasing competition.

He said since UOW gained its autonomy 40 years ago, Wollongong has forged a strong record of achievement as a world-class university with exceptional teaching standards and a strong research environment.

UOW currently sits in the top 2 per cent of universities in the world and has set its sights on moving into a top 1 per cent position.