QS World University Rankings Released: International Students Prefer Boğaziçi University (September 6, 2016)

Boğaziçi University ranked first among Turkish universities in some important categories in the 2016 QS World University Rankings. 916 universities around the world were evaluated this year, including 11 universities from Turkey.  Boğaziçi University retained its position in the top 500 universities in the world, and ranked first among Turkish universities in citations per faculty member. Boğaziçi University also ranked first as the Turkish university most preferred by international students.

The QS World University Rankings were released on September 6, 2016.

While Boğaziçi University ranked first among Turkish universities in number of citations per faculty member, it also ranked first as the most preferred university among international students in the same ranking.

In the past four years Boğaziçi University had retained its position in the top 500 universities in the world; this year the university experienced a slight drop as compared to the previous year and ranked in the 471-480 band.  This drop was attributed to the increase in the number of students, which resulted in a low score in the student-faculty ratio. According to QS data, Boğaziçi University ranked in the 441-450 band in the 2015-2016 academic year; in the 401-500 band in 2014-2015 academic year; in the 461-470 band in the 2013-2014 academic year; and in the 551-600 band in the 2012-2013 academic year.

Among Turkish universities ranked in the top 500, Bilkent University ranked first, Sabancı University second, Koç University third, and Boğaziçi University and METU ranked fifth. In the world rankings, this year’s QS report ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology first, Stanford University second, and Harvard University third. 

Commenting on the rankings, Prof. Taner Bilgiç, Vice Provost responsible for international affairs, said, “Universities in the world are ranked by various institutions… Boğaziçi University actively follows the QS rankings and also provides them with data. Boğaziçi University was listed in the 471-480 band this year, and in the 441-450 band the previous year. The criteria and methods used in such rankings can cause fluctuations in the rankings.”

“Looking at the scores for this year, we can see that we rank first among Turkish universities in citations per faculty member, an indicator of research performance, as was the case last year. Likewise, Boğaziçi University ranks first among Turkish universities with regard to the ratio of international students.  One single factor that affected our score negatively this year is the increase in our undergraduate quotas, which was totally beyond our control.  Obviously, the increase in the number of students also increased the ratio of students per faculty member, which pulled us down in the rankings.”

The scores used in the QS rankings are obtained through the assessment of the following indicators: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), student - faculty ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), international faculty ratio (5%), and international student ratio (5%).