TCD HAS dropped out of the world’s top 50 universities and UCD has slipped from the top 100 in the latest world university rankings.
The findings underline the difficulty both universities face at a time when the Irish higher education sector is experiencing cutbacks.
The latest results in the prestigious QS World University Rankings come as an OECD report highlighted low levels of investment in Irish education. Ireland lies 30th out of 33 OECD countries, with just the Czech Republic, Italy and the Slovak Republic spending less on education as a percentage of GDP.
The report – based on 2007 data – was compiled before the recent wave of spending cuts. It says Ireland spent only 1.2 per cent of GDP on higher education, well below the OECD average.
The world university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) show TCD slipping from 43 in 2009 to 52, while UCD moves from 89 to 114.
The news for some universities was better, with UCC up from 207 to 184 and NUI Galway up from 243 to 232. DCU moves from 279 to 330. UL and NUI Maynooth are again ranked between 400 and 500.
The downward movement of TCD and UCD is certain to reopen the debate about a sustainable funding base for higher education. The Hunt report on higher education proposes vastly increased funding and tuition charges. Minister for Education Mary Coughlan has said new charges are off the agenda during the lifetime of this Government.
Last night, UCD president Dr Hugh Brady said the movement in the QS rankings was not unexpected. “While Irish universities are cash-starved, other countries are investing solidly in their third and fourth-level sectors,” he said.
Dr Brady said the deterioration in the staff-student ratio and increased competition from overseas universities helped to explain the fall in UCD’s rankings – but he stressed the college remained ranked inside the top 5 per cent of world universities.
TCD provost Dr John Hegarty warned that the university’s staff-student ratio would “deteriorate further unless there is a meaningful change in the level of national investment”.
With more than 2,000 universities surveyed, the QS rankings are regarded as the most reliable guide to performance. Universities are ranked on the basis of data gathered on peer review, employer review, international faculty ratio, international student ratio, student faculty ratio and citations per faculty.
