VU Improves its Position in the Country’s University Rankings by Subject

For the seventh time Vilnius University (VU) maintains a leading position in the rankings by subject published by the “Rankings” journal. VU is the first in 30 academic fields of bachelor and integrated studies and as many as 35 academic fields of master degree studies. Compared to the previous year, VU has improved its positions in 2 bachelor and 1 master study fields.

In bachelor and integrated studies, VU takes the lead in the fields of genetics, biology, molecular biology, microbiology, public health, applied mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, geology, physical geography, law, political science, psychology, sociology, social work, communication, journalism, finance, pedagogy, philosophy, history, archaeology, regional studies, cultural studies, linguistics, philology, translation and interpreting, and pharmacy.

VU is also in the top position in almost half of all evaluated master study fields – 35 out of 78. Concerning master degree studies, VU is the best in the fields of biology, molecular biology, microbiology, genetics, public health, rehabilitation, medical technology, mathematics, statistics, informatics, programme systems, information systems, physics, chemistry, geology, physical geography, political science, psychology, sociology, social work, communication, journalism, economics, finance, marketing, human resources management, education science, philosophy, history, archaeology, regional studies, heritage studies, linguistics, philology, and translation and interpreting.

When evaluating bachelor study fields, the “Rankings” journal based its 2020 rankings of higher education institutions on survey results. A total of 2202 employers took part in the survey and evaluated the level of preparation of alumni and their work quality. The evaluation also included the data of graduates’ employability and salaries, the overall number of students admitted in 2020 and their average grade, the percentage of the best school graduates admitted in 2020, the lowest grade of first-year students admitted in 2020, and the assessment of the study fields carried out by the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC). This year, a new parameter has been included in the evaluation of preparation of bachelor graduates, i.e. a student dropout rate (the change in the number of students who have abandoned studies in 2018–2020).

The analysis of second cycle studies included the employers’ opinion about the alumni, the data of graduates’ employability and salaries, the scientific aspect of universities in 2016 and 2017 according to the number of state-funded doctoral places by each higher education institution in each academic field. This year, similarly to the evaluation of bachelor studies, a student dropout rate has been included in the evaluation of preparation of master graduates. Reference has also been made to the assessment of study programmes of each specific study field carried out by the SKVC.