The QS Top Universities Ranking ranks USACH in the fourth place, among the 14 Chilean universities, in the list of the 100 best universities of the region. The University’s president Juan Manuel Zolezzi said: “In spite of the scarce resources, we are in an expectant position”.
Our University ranked 21st in Latin America, in the 2011 QS Top Universities Ranking. This is an international measurement that groups the 100 best institutions of the region for the first time.
In comparison with other universities of the country, the USACH ranks lower than Pontificia Universidad Católica, that is in the second place in the ranking; the Universidad de Chile, in the fourth position, and the Universidad de Concepción in the 12th place. According to this survey, the USACH outranks the Universidad Austral de Chile (30th) and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (44th).
The president of the University valued the position of the institution in this ranking, although he said he did not feel completely satisfied. The University’s authority assured that this position of the USACH in Latin America is good, in spite of the scarce resources that it receives from the State. “If we received resources like those of the Universidad de Sao Paulo (first in the ranking), we would obviously be contending for the first place”, he said.
He added that “from the point of view of the mandate we hold as public institutions, we have shown what we can do and the State has to re- think the treatment it gives to its universities”, said Zolezzi with respect to higher basic contributions for these institutions.
Besides, the University improved its position in the world, in comparison with 2010 in the same ranking, because now it is in the 451- 500 place (it was in the 501- 550 place in the previous sample).
President Zolezzi declared that this ranking is an objective indicator about the quality of the universities and for this reason it constitutes valuable information that future applicants have to consider when choosing the higher education institution where they will study. This information is also relevant in this moment when some private universities (which are not part of this ranking) have even offended the State universities explicitly.
The ranking is closer to the reality of Latin America’s universities
Sergio González, USACH director of Studies and Institutional Analysis, emphasized that the QS Top Universities ranking is a more pertinent measurement for the reality of the region’s universities, if it is compared, for example, with the world ranking elaborated by the Jiao Tong University of Shanghai whose indicators include Nobel Prizes won by the professors or the age of the institutions in centuries.
“QS is a tool that is closer to the reality of the Latin American universities. It considers elements that are interesting for us, such as the social inclusion or the students’ gap. Although these elements do not fully appear in the ranking, they are considered. In this sense, this is a serious ranking that has to do with the nature of our institutions and it is closer to our reality”, he remarked.
