Reputation and rankings

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Reputation and rankings

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RMIT has a global reputation for excellence in professional and vocational education, applied research, and engagement with the needs of industry and communities world-wide. There are at least 15 global ranking schemas, of which (QS, ARWU and THE) are considered the most influential.

RMIT standing in the major ranking schemas

QS

  • 206th globally (and 14th in Australia) in QS World University Rankings 2022. Rankings published for 1,380 institutions.
  • 18th globally in the 2021 QS Top 50 Under 50 (5th in Australia). A ranking of the world’s top universities which are under 50 years old.
  • 77th globally in QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020. RMIT ranks 55th globally on the Graduate Employment Rate.

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)

  • 330th globally in the 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities, up 24 places compared to 354th in 2019. RMIT has moved up 157 places since 2016. ARWU publishes rankings for 1,000 institutions. RMIT is ranked in the 301-400 band.

Times Higher Education (THE)

  • 3rd globally in the 2021 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. RMIT ranks 2nd globally in reducing inequalities, 3rd in partnership for the goals. This ranking focuses on measuring universities’ social, environmental and economic impact and progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • 301-350 (band) in the 2021 edition of Times Higher Education World University Rankings. RMIT ranks 59th globally on international outlook. THE publishes rankings for 1,527 universities.
  • =57th globally in the Young University Rankings. A ranking of the world’s best universities that are aged 49 years or under.

Best Global Universities

  • 281st globally in Best Global Universities 2021. A ranking of the world’s top 1,500 universities, published by U.S. News & World Report. RMIT ranks 223rd globally on the global research reputation dimension. This is a ranking which heavily relies on bibliometrics and a reputation survey.

CWTS Leiden Rankings

  • 157th globally on the mean normalized citation score, up from 236th in 2020.
  • 106th globally on proportion of publications in top 1% cited journals, up from 210th in 2020.
  • CWTS Leiden ranks which are deemed to be the most research-intensive universities in the world. Ranks 1,225 institutions in 2021 and derives a set of impact and collaboration measures but it does not produce an overall rank.

Nature Index

  • 400th globally in 2021. Nature Index and 13th in Australia. RMIT is 25 places up from 2020. The Nature Index is a specialised ranking, produced by Nature Research, ranks the world’s top leading universities in the sciences.

NTU Ranking

  •  431st  globally (and 20th in Australia) in 2020. This ranking is published by the National University of Taiwan (NTU) and is designed to evaluate and compare research universities’ achievements in scientific research by using objective indicators. The NTU Ranking covers the world’s top 500 universities.

Round University Ranking (RUR)

  • 326th globally in 2021, up 26 places from 352nd in 2020. This ranking is published by RUR Rankings Agency and ranks the world’s 869 leading universities based on bibliometric and reputational data.

Webometrics

  • 190th globally in 2021, up 83 places from 273rd in the Ranking Web of Universities (Webometrics). The aim of this ranking is to promote academic web presence and support open access initiatives. It ranks over 28,000 universities globally.

5 QS Stars – RMIT was awarded an overall 5 QS Stars in eight out of eight categories by QS for 2018-2021

  • Teaching
  • Employability
  • Research
  • Internationalization
  • Innovation
  • Inclusiveness
  • Facilities
  • Specialist criteria (Art & Design)

Ranking by schema

Expand all sections
World Ranking =206th (Top 250)

Ranking in Australia

 14th

Employer reputation

 122nd globally, 8th in Australia

International faculty

 34th globally, 6th in Australia

International students

 83rd globally, 15th in Australia
QS Top 50 Under 50 18th globally, 5th in Australia
QS Graduate Employability Rankings (2020) 77th globally, 8th in Australia

Partnership with employers

 60th globally, 4th in Australia
Architecture / Built Environment
 28th globally (Top 50) and 3rd in Australia
Art and Design 15th globally, 1st in Australia
Communication & Media Studies
 41st globally (Top 50) and 3rd in Australia
Library and Information Management 40th globally (Top 50) and 3rd in Australia
World ranking 301-350

International outlook

 59th globally, 8th in Australia
THE Impact Ranking (globally) 3rd globally, 2nd in Australia

Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)

 2nd globally, 2nd in Australia
Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) 5th globally, 3rd in Australia  
Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) =13th globally, 3rd in Australia
Partnership for the goals (SDG 17) 3rd globally, 2nd in Australia
Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) 23rd globally, 7th in Australia
Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9) 40th globally, 2nd in Australia  

Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12)

 84th globally, 6th in Australia

Climate action (SDG 13)

 90th globally, 8th in Australia
World ranking 301-400 (est. 330) globally (20th in Australia)
Publications 317th globally (16th in Australia)
Highly cited researchers 292nd globally (18th in Australia)
Nature and Science 365th globally (18th in Australia)
Per capita performance 217th globally (22nd in Australia)  
World ranking (Impact)  
Mean normalised citation score 157th globally (16th in Australia)
Top 1% publications 106th globally (6th in Australia)
Top 10% publications
 158th globally (14th in Australia)
Total citations 324th globally (16th in Australia)
World ranking (Collaboration)  
Collaborative publications 369th globally (16th in Australia)
International collaborations 285th globally (20th in Australia)
Long distance collaborations 41st globally (17th in Australia)
Industry collaborations 648th globally (22nd in Australia)
World ranking 400th globally (13th in Australia)
World ranking 431st
World ranking 326th globally (16th in Australia)

Ranking by study area

Expand all sections

Architecture / Built Environment

  • 28th globally (Top 50) and 3rd in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Art and Design

  • 15th globally (Top 20) and 1st in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Art and Humanities

  • 116th globally and 8th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 176–200 globally for THE World University Rankings 2021 by Subject
  • 172nd globally for 2021 Best Global World University Rankings

Fashion and Textiles

  • RMIT School of Fashion & Textiles is Ranked in the Top 11 of the Business of Fashion’s (BoF’s) ‘Best Fashion Schools in the World’ Survey, and Number 1 in Australia

Computer Science & Information Systems

  • 141st globally (Top 150) and 10th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 98th globally (Top 100) for Best Global World University Rankings 2021
  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) for ShanghaiRankings 2021
  • 118th globally (Top 150) for 2020 NTU World University Rankings

Engineering - Chemical

  • 151-200th globally (Top 200) and 8th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 211th globally for Best Global World University Rankings 2021
  • 201-300th globally for ShanghaiRankings 2021
  • 206th globally for NTU World University Rankings 2020

Engineering - Civil & Structural

  • 51-100th globally (Top 100) and 9th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 36th globally (Top 100) for Best Global World University Rankings 2021
  • 51-75th globally (Top 100) for ShanghaiRankings 2021
  • 112th globally (Top 150) for NTU World University Rankings 2021

Engineering - Electrical & Electronic

  • 127th globally (Top 150) and 9th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 80th globally (Top 100) for Best Global World University Rankings 2021
  • 101-150th globally (Top 100) and 7th in Australia for 2021 ShanghaiRankings
  • 106th globally (Top 150) for NTU World University Rankings 2020

Engineering - Mechanical, Aerospace & Manufacturing

  • 134th globally (Top 150) and =6th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Engineering – Mechanical

  • 47th globally (Top 100) for Best Global World University Rankings 2021
  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 8th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021
  • 56th globally (Top 100) for 2020 NTU World University Rankings

Engineering – Minerals & Mining

  • 51-60th globally and 10th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Materials Science & Engineering

  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 9th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Automation & Control

  • 51-75th globally (Top 100) and 7th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Instruments Science & Technology

  • 76-100th globally (Top 100) and 5th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Energy Science & Engineering

  • 201-300th globally (Top 300) and 12th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Transportation Science & Technology

  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 11th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Nanoscience & Nanotechnology

  • 151-200th globally (Top 200) and 10th in Australia for 2021 ShanghaiRankings

Food Science & Technology

  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 4th in Australia for 2021 ShanghaiRankings

Aerospace Engineering

  • 46th globally (Top 50) and 2nd in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Metallurgical Engineering

  • 50th globally (Top 50) and 4th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Telecommunication Engineering

  • 151-200th globally (Top 100) and 8th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Agriculture & Forestry

  • 151-200th (Top 200) globally and 11th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Biomedical and Health Sciences

  • 200th globally and 12th in Australia for 2021 Leiden Ranking on mean normalized citations.

Life and Earth Sciences

  • 281st globally and 17th in Australia for 2021 Leiden Ranking on mean normalized citations.

Chemistry

  • 251-300th globally and 13th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 301-400th globally and 14th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021
  • 315th globally for Best Global World University Rankings 2021

Environmental Sciences

  • 151-200th globally and 15th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Geography

  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 7th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 151-200th globally and 13th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Mathematics

  • 251-300th globally and 15th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Materials Science

  • 101-150th globally and 7th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 104th globally for Best Global World University Rankings 2021

Physics and Astronomy

  • 301-350th globally and 11th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 518th globally for Best Global World University Rankings 2021

Accounting & Finance

  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 11th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Business & Management Studies

  • 151-200th globally (Top 200) and 10th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Executive Masters of Business Administration

  • 69th globally and 9th in Asia Pacific for QS Executive Master of Business Administration

Communication & Media Studies

  • 41st globally (Top 50) and 3rd in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 10th in Australia for 2021 ShanghaiRankings

Development Studies

  • 51-100th globally (Top 100) and 7th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021.

Economics & Econometrics

  • 301-350th globally and 16th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021
  • 142nd globally (Top 200) and 11th in Australia for 2020 Best Global World University Rankings
  • 121st globally (Top 150) for 2019 NTU World University Rankings

Education

  • 101-150th globally (Top 150) and 16th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Finance

  • 151-200th globally (Top 200) and 9th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Library Management

  • 40th globally (Top 50) and =2nd in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Business Administration

  • 151-200 globally and 8th in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Hospitality and Tourism Management

  • 151-200 globally and 21st in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Management

  • 151-200 globally and 8tht in Australia for ShanghaiRankings 2021

Sociology

  • 151-200th globally (Top 200) and 14th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021

Statistics & Operational Research

  • 151-200th globally (Top 200) and 11th in Australia for QS Rankings by Subject 2021.
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Acknowledgement of country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business. - Artwork created by Louisa Bloomer

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