The Irish Times view on the university rankings: not quite as good as they appear

On the face of it the performance of Irish universities in the most recent QS World University Rankings 2024 is welcome. Seven out of the eight universities improved their rankings, with Trinity College Dublin the standout performer, rising 17 places to 81st. But a deeper look paints a less rosy picture. Six out of the eight fell in terms of academic reputation and none of them are in the top 100 for research impact. To the uninitiated these two areas are the true measure of any third-level institution and it is hard to reconcile the performance of Irish universities in this regard with the notion of improvement.

The inherent contradiction owes much to unaddressed structural issues which can produce perverse outcomes in terms of ratings. Writing in this paper, two higher education consultants, Ellen Hazelkorn and Tom Boland, highlighted that the methodology employed by QS rewards universities with a lot of overseas students.

Irish universities are actively recruiting students from abroad – who pay higher fees – in order to bridge the gap between State funding and their costs. Amongst the unintended consequences is fewer places for local students. Paradoxically, the improved rankings will only increase the appeal of Irish universities to overseas students.

There are two lessons. The first is not to put too much store by the QS rankings, or indeed any of the approximately 16 alternative ranking tables.

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The second is that the Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris needs to be clearer on how he will close the third-level funding gap which was estimated in 2022 at €307 million a year on a standstill basis – not taking into account future demographic needs or new policy proposals. Closing this gap would only bring us into line with our international peers. Surely our ambition needs to be higher than that?

Harris promised last year that he will “prioritise closing this gap over a number of budgets”. The Government has indicated spending increases of over €5 billion for 2024. How much is allocated to university funding will tell its own tale.