The University of Johannesburg (UJ) announced that it has made it into the QS World University Top 500 ranking.
UJ said via a statement that it had been placed at number 439 on the global scale, jumping 62 places from last year’s rating of 501.
The institution is now ranked third in South Africa and fourth in Africa.
The QS World University Rankings is based on six performance indicators which include research output and quality, global academic and employer reputations, and teaching and learning.
UJ also climbed the rankings in the 2020–21 Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) and the University Rankings by Academic Performance (URAP) field rankings, the university said.
In the URAP rankings, released on June 6, UJ ranked in 18 of the 61 URAP field rankings, an increase of three spots over last year and holding the top spots in South Africa in four fields – sociology; commerce, management, tourism and services; chemical engineering and materials engineering – and ranked in the top 200 for philosophy and anthropology.
In the CWUR released on Monday, UJ was the only university in South Africa within the top 10 nationally to have climbed this year from its previous position, up 55 places from last year’s global ranking of 761, out of 20,000 universities surveyed.
UJ vice-chancellor and principal Tshilidzi Marwala said the current ranking of the university proved its academic programmes remained strong.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment and recognition for UJ. The latest global rankings reaffirm the fact that our academic programmes remain strong and relevant, as we continue with our mission to position UJ as the international university of choice, anchored in Africa and dynamically shaping the future.
“These rankings are a wonderful tribute to the sustained work by our staff and students as we continue to forge ahead and scale new heights,” Marwala said.
-ANA; Editing by Yaron Blecher
