Vilnius University Retains its Leading Position in the Subject Ranking of Lithuanian Higher Education Institutions

The latest subject rankings of Lithuanian education and higher education institutions have been presented. Vilnius University (VU) was the best performer among universities in this ranking, the same as every year – it was declared the leader in more than a third (39 out of 92) of the assessed Bachelor and integrated study programmes and in almost half (39 out of 84) of the Master study programmes. This year, VU has improved its position in four Bachelor and two Master study fields.

Based on the total sum of all indicators in points, the highest scoring VU Bachelor studies were Communication (98.59), Genetics (98.45), Sociology (97.96), Psychology (96.85), Informatics Engineering (96.40), Journalism (96.25), Biology (95.95), Law (95.90), Physics (95.58), Social Work (95.38), History (93.65), Archaeology (93.57), Mathematics (93.33), Philosophy (90.72), and Economics (90.64). In the category of Master studies, the best study fields at VU were History (93.23), Biochemistry (92.23), Philosophy (92.09), and Psychology (90.12).

This year, 97.0 per cent of graduates who enrolled in VU’s Bachelor study programme in Genetics passed the State Matura exams with the highest scores (86–100), while 94.0 per cent and 90.0 per cent of such students were admitted to VU’s Physics and Software Engineering study programmes, respectively.

VU is the only university in the country to offer Bachelor and integrated study programmes in Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Microbiology, Geology, Information Services, Culture Studies, and Classical Studies. It is also the only higher education institution in Lithuania to offer Master study programmes in the fields of Microbiology, Genetics, Biophysics, Mathematics, Archaeology, Regional Studies, and Geology.

Compared to other universities, for Bachelor and integrated studies, VU leads in the study fields of Genetics, Biology, Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Microbiology, Geology, Biochemistry, Public Health, Medical Technology, Rehabilitation, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Biotechnology, Informatics Engineering, Software Engineering, Law, Political Sciences, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Communication, Journalism, Information Services, Marketing, Finance, Public Administration, Pedagogy, Philosophy, History, Archaeology, Culture Studies, Linguistics, Philology, Translation, and Classical Studies.

VU is the leading university in 39 out of 84 assessed Master study fields; VU is ranked highest for Genetics, Biology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Biochemistry, Medical Technology, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Informatics, Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Physical Geography, Biotechnology, Materials Technology, Law, Political Sciences, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Communication, Journalism, Human Geography, Business, Finance, Public Administration, Human Resource Management, Pedagogy, Philosophy, History, Archaeology, Regional Studies, Heritage Studies, Linguistics, Philology, and Translation.

The national subject ranking of higher education institutions assessed 92 Bachelor and 84 Master study fields. Disciplines at the Bachelor level were ranked according to (2,270) employers’ perceptions of graduates’ qualifications, the graduate employment rate and remuneration, the number of students admitted, the percentage of the most talented school graduates, and other indicators. In addition to employers’ perceptions of the quality of training, employment rate and remuneration of the alumni, the ranking of Master study fields also included academic performance indicators. In addition, the number of State-funded doctoral student places available at each higher education institution in each area of study was calculated. The evaluations carried out by the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education of the study programmes in each specific field were also taken into account.

VU has maintained its leading position in the national rankings of higher education institutions since their establishment, whereas in international rankings (QS World University Rankings), VU has been among the top 500 universities in the world in recent years.