Virginia Tech performs well in two new global rankings
Virginia Tech fared well in the QS World University Rankings 2026 and Times Higher Education 2025 Impact Rankings, both released this week.
Global higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released its latest international rankings on Tuesday and put Virginia Tech among the top 25 percent of institutions worldwide. Virginia Tech is listed at No. 358 globally out of 1,501 institutions ranked, a significant jump from No. 389 overall last year.
Times Higher Education (THE), a British publication devoted to news and issues related to higher education, released its annual Impact Rankings on Wednesday, which assess participating universities against the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. THE rankings use calibrated indicators to compare universities across four areas: research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching.
Of the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Virginia Tech registered in the top 75 percent globally in seven of those.
QS World University Rankings and THE’s Impact Rankings are viewed among the most widely read university world rankings.
“Virginia Tech’s rise in these rankings reflects our deep commitment to research that addresses the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Dan Sui, senior vice president for research and innovation. “Our faculty lead interdisciplinary efforts and build global partnerships that extend the reach of our work. From environmental resilience to emerging technologies, Virginia Tech research is making a meaningful difference on a global scale.”
The QS World University Rankings 2026 is an annual publication that assesses universities against metrics related to research and discovery, employability and outcomes, learning experience, global engagement, and sustainability. Virginia Tech scored well in the category of international research network, which assesses the diversity of an institution’s international research partnerships and how these partnerships help to solve the most pressing global challenges.
Virginia Tech ranked No. 236 globally in this indicator and No. 38 out of the 192 United States institutions evaluated.
Also of note, the university ranked:
- No. 228 globally and No. 14 among U.S. institutions in international faculty, a measure of the proportion of faculty members who are international that shows how internationally attractive the university is to academic staff through its reputation and quality
- No. 346 globally and No. 38 among U.S. institutes institutions in sustainability, which evaluates the social and environmental impact of universities as centers of education and research
- No. 347 globally and No. 54 among U.S. institutes institutions evaluated in employer reputation, which evaluates the perceptions of global employers on which universities are providing the most job-ready graduates
In the THE Impact Rankings, the university’s best scores came in the following three Sustainable Development Goals:
- No. 53 out of 973 universities in Responsible Consumption and Production, which aims to ensure economic growth and development are achieved in a way that minimizes environmental and social harm
- No. 82 out of 955 universities in Zero Hunger, a measure that aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030
- No. 86 out of 854 universities in Life on Land, which focuses on protecting and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems
University initiatives such as The Market of Virginia Tech (Zero Hunger), support of local agriculture and source campus-raised ingredients produced by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Responsible Consumption and Production), and both the Virginia Master Naturalist Program and the Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program (Life on Land) contributed to the high scores.
