Two WA universities in Australian top 10

Curtin University and The University of Western Australia have been ranked among the top 10 universities in Australia, with Curtin jumping from 16th position to ninth in the past year, according to the latest Center for World University Rankings.

The rankings measure the academic performance of 20,000 universities across the world on quality of teaching, alumni employment, quality of faculty, research output, high-quality publications, influence and citations. The study uses quantitative methods instead of relying on university submissions and surveys.

In the 2019-2020 rankings, the United Arab Emirates-based consultancy compiled a larger list of the top 2,000 universities, instead of 1,000 as in previous years, and changed the methods to give equal emphasis to learning environment and research.

Curtin increased its ranking in Australia by seven positions to ninth and is now ranked 360th in the world, a 40-place improvement from last year.

UWA maintained seventh position in the country while moving from 145th to 126th in the world.

Murdoch University fell by one position in Australia, after ranking 25th in Australia in 2018-2019 and 26th in this year's study, and is now ranked 896th worldwide.

Edith Cowan University and The University of Notre Dame Australia were not in the top 1,000 last year and did not receive a ranking, but with the introduction of a larger list, they appeared at positions 30 and 39 in Australia, respectively.   

Curtin University vice-chancellor Deborah Terry said the university’s latest ranking results showed a continued improvement on the world stage. 

“The Center for World University Rankings result places Curtin ninth in Australia, an increase of seven places that positions Curtin among the nation’s highest-ranking universities,” she said. 

“This global ranking assesses the quality of education and academic staff, alumni employment and research performance, confirming Curtin’s position among the world’s top academic institutions.”

The University of Melbourne was deemed the best in Australia and 57th in the world.

The US (first), the UK (fourth), Japan (13th), Canada (24th) and France (32nd) all had universities ranking higher than Australian institutions.

The US continued to dominate the top 10, with eight universities cited.

Harvard University was ranked as the top university for the eighth year in a row.

The Center for World University Rankings' findings are similar to those of the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2018 compiled by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy released in mid-August, which placed UWA sixth, Curtin University ninth, Murdoch University 25th and Edith Cowan University 30th in Australia.