THE LatAm Rankings 2021 Released

CHILE HOLDS TOP SPOT FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR IN LATEST TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION LATIN AMERICA UNIVERSITY RANKINGS AS BRAZIL DOMINATES TOP 10

• Chile’s Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (1^st) retains number one position for the third consecutive year
• Brazil dominates top 10, with seven universities ranked in the group (13 in top 20)
• Top five remains unchanged, with Brazil, Chile and Mexico represented
• Brazil’s Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (8^th) and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (10^th) both move into the top 10
• A record 177 universities from 13 countries qualify for the 2021 rankings
• Colombia’s Pontifical Javeriana University (23^rd), and Costa Rica’s University of Costa Rica (25^th) move into the top 25 for the first time
• Ecuador’s enters top 50 for first time since 2017 as Universidad San Francisco de Quito comes =41^st
• 10 universities move into the top 100 after ranking outside the group in 2020
• 19 universities make their debut in the rankings, three rank in the top 100
• Brazil (67) is the most represented country or region, followed by Chile (28), Colombia (24), and Mexico (23)
• View the THE LatAm Rankings 2021 results in full here:
  
  
• View the THE LatAm Rankings 2021 methodology here:
  
  
• *** See Country and Region Specific Headlines ***

13 July 2021

Times Higher Education (THE) has today announced the results for its sixth edition of the THE Latin America (LatAm) University Rankings. Drawing on the same 13 performance indicators that underpin the THE World University Rankings (with weightings recalibrated to reflect the characteristics of Latin America’s universities), the LatAm Rankings focus on the best universities in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Chile’s Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (1^st) retains number one position for the third consecutive year, as all top five ranked institutions maintain their positions from last year. For the 4^th year in a row, Brazilian universities dominate the top ten as Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (8^th) and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (10^th) both move into the top 10, giving Brazil seven positions in the group.

Overall Top 10

A record 177 universities qualified for the LatAm Rankings this year, 11 more than in 2020, highlighting the growing quality of higher education in the Latin American and Caribbean region and its willingness to demonstrate its strengths through competitive global rankings. Although Brazilian universities continue to dominate the rankings, with 67 institutions represented, there are success stories for countries across the region.

Colombia’s Pontifical Javeriana University (23^rd), and Costa Rica’s University of Costa Rica (25^th) both move into the top 25 for the first time, with Pontifical Javeriana University one of six (out of eight) Colombian universities in the top 100 to improve or maintain its previous ranking position. Ecuador’s Universidad San Francisco de Quito (=41^st) also sees an improvement, moving into the top 50 for the first since 2017, after moving up 15 places.

Elsewhere in the top 100, a total of 13 universities move into the elite band this year. They include: Brazil’s Federal University of Espírito Santo (=69^th), Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (Unioeste) (74^th), and University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR) (90^th), Ecuador’s Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (73^rd), and UEES, Espiritu Santo University (98^th), Mexico’s Autonomous University of Baja California (=92^nd), Universidad Panamericana (UP) (=92^nd), and Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) (=100^th), and Chile’s University of Los Lagos (97^th), and University of La Serena (99^th). Three universities debut in the top 100: Brazil’s University of South Santa Catarina (Unisul) (80^th) and University of Pernambuco (=100^th), and Peru’s Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (81^st).

In total, 19 universities make their debut in the rankings, from seven different countries. Brazil’s nine debutants help it maintain its position as the most represented country in the ranking (67), followed by Chile (28), Colombia (24), and Mexico (23).

Country Representation

Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer, THE, commented:

“Despite the growing competition in THE’s Latin America University Rankings, Chile’s Pontifical Catholic University of Chile has once again cemented itself as the top performing university in the Latin American and Caribbean region. To maintain top position in consecutive years is an impressive achievement, to do it three years in a row is testament to the strength of the university across its missions.

 “The Latam University Rankings are important in helping understand the strength of higher education across the region outside of our global rankings. Although Brazilian universities may dominate in terms of representation and positions towards the top end of the table, the quality of higher education across the region is evident, with success stories for Colombia and Costa Rica, who see their institutions achieve positions in the top 25 for the first time and several countries, including Ecuador and Mexico, seeing universities climb into the top 100, despite this being our most competitive rankings yet.”    

About the THE Latam University Rankings

The Times Higher Education Latin America University Rankings lists the best universities in the Latin America and Caribbean region. It is based on the same 13 rigorous performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings 2021, but with special modifications to better reflect the characteristics of the region. For Latin America, this includes acknowledging that research volume tends to be lower and English language less prevalent than the global research publication average. As a result, less weight is given to research impact, which can be a contributing factor as to why some universities leapfrog others when looking at their World University Rankings positions. The universities are judged across the core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook, to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available.