World University Rankings 2019 by subject: four results out now

View the results in full:

THE World University Rankings 2019 by subject: business and economics
THE World University Rankings 2019 by subject: education
THE World University Rankings 2019 by subject: law
THE World University Rankings 2019 by subject: social sciences

Stanford University, the University of Oxford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have topped Times Higher Education’s first set of subject rankings releases for 2019.

Stanford tops the education table for the second consecutive year and swaps places with Duke University to take pole position in the law ranking. Both tables were published for the first time last year.

Meanwhile, the University of Oxford is number one in the social sciences ranking for the second year in a row, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology overtakes Stanford to claim first place in the business and economics table.

The publication of the four subject rankings follows the release of the overall THE World University Rankings 2019 on 26 September, which saw the University of Oxford claim the top spot for the third year in a row.

- Best universities for business and economics degrees
- Best universities for education degrees
- Best universities for law degrees
- Best universities for social sciences degrees
- Russia ‘moving backwards’ on social science citations
- Browse Times Higher Education’s university rankings portfolio

The subject rankings results show that Asian universities have become more prominent in the field of education; while the University of Hong Kong remains in fourth place in this table, National Taiwan Normal University has climbed seven places to 15th and Chinese University of Hong Kong has risen two places to joint 18th. China also features in the list for the first time, with four representatives, led by Peking University at 26th.

Meanwhile, an analysis of the social sciences data reveal that several major higher education nations have stalled on citation impact in this subject area, while universities in Russia are moving backwards on this measure.

Each of the four new subject rankings have been expanded since last year, meaning that many new countries are included and several nations have increased their representation.

China, for instance, has more than tripled its representation in the social sciences ranking, claiming 33 places, up from nine last year. Peking University tops the country at 23rd place, up from 22nd, while Tsinghua has leapt from joint 54th to 37th. The social sciences ranking includes 666 universities, up from 400 last year.

This year, THE has also made a small adjustment to the eligibility criterion for academic staff in the subject tables, which explains why there are some new university entrants this year. This is most noticeable in the business and economics ranking, which features several prestigious institutions – such as Duke University and Yale University – for the first time.

- World University Rankings 2019 by subject: business and economics methodology
- World University Rankings 2019 by subject: education methodology
- World University Rankings 2019 by subject: law methodology
- World University Rankings 2019 by subject: social sciences methodology

Overall, 11 subject rankings will be published for 2019; the remaining seven tables will be released over three dates in October and November. Eight of the lists include more than 500 universities for the first time.

The subject rankings are based on the same range of 13 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings 2019, but the methodology is recalibrated for each subject to suit the individual fields.

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com