2017 QS Philosophy Rankings Released
London-based education firm Quacquarelli Symonds has published its annual “QS World University Rankings,” The Guardian reports, including a ranking of universities at which to study philosophy.
The methodology of the rankings takes into account academic reputation, employability of graduates, research citations per faculty paper, and h-index. You can read more about the methodology here.
The rankings do not specify whether they are intended to assist prospective undergraduate or graduate students, though much of the materials seem oriented towards the former.
Several criticisms of the rankings, along with responses from QS, are discussed here and here. These rankings are far from uncontroversial, as, of course, is the very idea of fine-grained rankings of places to study philosophy.
In any event, here is a list of “the top fifty universities in the world for philosophy” according to QS (also here). Take it with a grain of salt.
| 2017 rank | 2016 rank | Institution name | Country | Academic reputation | Employer reputation | Citations | Research impact | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | University of Pittsburgh | United States | 100 | 60.8 | 91.5 | 86.8 | 95.9 |
| 2 | 4 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | 90.2 | 96.6 | 89.2 | 100 | 91.4 |
| 3 | 2 | New York University (NYU) | United States | 92.5 | 71.9 | 91.2 | 91.8 | 91.3 |
| 4 | 3 | Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick | United States | 92.4 | 46.9 | 94.6 | 90.2 | 90.1 |
| 5 | 6 | Harvard University | United States | 88.7 | 100 | 90.3 | 91.8 | 89.7 |
| 6 | 5 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 89 | 96.9 | 83.5 | 85 | 88.4 |
| 7 | 8 | Princeton University | United States | 85.8 | 86.1 | 95.4 | 86.8 | 86.9 |
| 8 | 9 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | United States | 86.2 | 86.1 | 87.3 | 83.1 | 86 |
| 9 | 7 | London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | United Kingdom | 85.4 | 89.6 | 88.4 | 76.8 | 85.1 |
| 10 | 13 | Yale University | United States | 82.8 | 87.1 | 93.8 | 90.2 | 84.9 |
| 11 | 12 | Stanford University | United States | 83.4 | 90.4 | 86 | 83.1 | 84 |
| 12 | 15 | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | Germany | 84.9 | 57.4 | 79.1 | 74.4 | 81.9 |
| 13 | 11 | University of Notre Dame | United States | 84 | 61 | 78.2 | 71.9 | 81.1 |
| 14= | 19 | Columbia University | United States | 79.6 | 86 | 88.4 | 81.1 | 81 |
| 14= | 14 | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Germany | 83.8 | 72.8 | 78.4 | 66.2 | 81 |
| 16= | 10 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | United States | 77.8 | 92.3 | 93.5 | 81.1 | 80.4 |
| 16= | 25 | University of Michigan | United States | 79.1 | 72.8 | 90.9 | 83.1 | 80.4 |
| 18 | 17 | University of Toronto | Canada | 78.9 | 72.1 | 83.8 | 86.8 | 79.8 |
| 19 | 16 | University of St Andrews | United Kingdom | 77.9 | 72 | 88.8 | 85 | 79.4 |
| 20 | 18 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | United States | 77.9 | 84.5 | 85.8 | 76.8 | 78.9 |
| 21 | 20 | Australian National University (ANU) | Australia | 74.8 | 81.5 | 94.9 | 88.5 | 78.5 |
| 22 | 22 | University of Chicago | United States | 79.7 | 82.2 | 74.9 | 63 | 77.7 |
| 23 | 27 | King’s College London (KCL) | United Kingdom | 74 | 90.9 | 87.7 | 79 | 76.7 |
| 24 | 29 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | United States | 76.1 | 43.7 | 91.7 | 81.1 | 76.5 |
| 25 | 30 | University of Helsinki | Finland | 74.2 | 58.4 | 84.5 | 81.1 | 75.1 |
| 26 | 47 | Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) | France | 80.9 | 72.5 | 51.3 | 46.3 | 74.1 |
| 27= | 44 | City University of New York | United States | 71.6 | 62.4 | 81.8 | 88.5 | 73.9 |
| 27= | 28 | Universität Frankfurt am Main | Germany | 73.2 | 77.8 | 82.4 | 69.1 | 73.9 |
| 29 | 46 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark | 70.8 | 79.6 | 85.5 | 81.1 | 73.7 |
| 30= | 26 | Katholieke Universiteit Leuven | Belgium | 71.9 | 69 | 74.8 | 81.1 | 73 |
| 30= | 51-100 | The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) | Hong Kong | 77.2 | 69.4 | 60.3 | 55.5 | 73 |
| 30= | 39 | University of British Columbia | Canada | 72 | 73.9 | 81.5 | 71.9 | 73 |
| 33 | 43 | Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) | Belgium | 76.4 | 79.2 | 64.4 | 51.2 | 72.8 |
| 34 | 37 | The University of Sydney | Australia | 68.8 | 75.7 | 85.8 | 83.1 | 72.3 |
| 35= | 34 | McGill University | Canada | 70.4 | 66 | 88.6 | 71.9 | 72.2 |
| 35= | 33 | Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg | Germany | 71.8 | 74.6 | 80.3 | 66.2 | 72.2 |
| 37= | 51-100 | Boston University | United States | 70.6 | 76.8 | 83.6 | 69.1 | 72.1 |
| 37= | 40 | University of Geneva | Switzerland | 71.8 | 51.1 | 85.1 | 71.9 | 72.1 |
| 39 | 35 | Peking University | China | 75.5 | 88.6 | 57.4 | 51.2 | 71.9 |
| 40 | 21 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 66.3 | 79.1 | 90.1 | 90.2 | 71.7 |
| 41 | 48 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands | 67.3 | 73.6 | 85 | 88.5 | 71.5 |
| 42= | 41 | Universitat de Barcelona (UB) | Spain | 72.9 | 67.6 | 71.2 | 59.4 | 71.1 |
| 42= | 23 | Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne | France | 75.3 | 72.6 | 63.3 | 46.3 | 71.1 |
| 44 | 51-100 | Freie Universität Berlin | Germany | 73.2 | 69.7 | 65 | 59.4 | 70.8 |
| 45 | 31 | Cornell University | United States | 66.5 | 81.5 | 88.3 | 79 | 70.7 |
| 46 | 42 | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) | Mexico | 73.2 | 78.5 | 64.1 | 51.2 | 70.4 |
| 47= | 24 | Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (ENS Paris) | France | 73.5 | 58.7 | 60.7 | 55.5 | 69.7 |
| 47= | 45 | University of California, San Diego (UCSD) | United States | 64.9 | 65.3 | 94 | 83.1 | 69.7 |
| 47= | 38 | Western University | Canada | 68.9 | 63.8 | 81.9 | 66.2 | 69.7 |
| 50 | 51-100 | Renmin (People’s) University of China | China | 75.8 | 62.3 | 49.1 | 46.3 | 69.5 |
These rankings are far from uncontroversial in the sense that phrenology is far from uncontroversial. Do not take them with a grain of salt, nor with a grain of anything. Just don’t take them.