The University of Montpellier confirms its international reputation in the QS 2026 ranking

[Press release] - Published on June 30, 2025 in Press room

Following the publication of the prestigious QS World University Rankings 2026 on June 19, the University of Montpellier consolidates its position among the world's top 500 universities, with a remarkable 18-place rise in the rankings despite ever-increasing competition from Asian universities. This international recognition underlines the excellence of its training and research, particularly in the fields of environmental and agricultural sciences. More generally, France is the fourth most represented higher education system in the EU.

A benchmark ranking for global higher education

The QS World University Rankings, published annually by the British firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), is now one of the world's top three rankings, alongside the Shanghai Rankings (ARWU) and Times Higher Education (THE). The 2026 edition ranks over 1,500 universities worldwide, after analyzing more than 5,600 candidate institutions.

To establish this ranking, QS uses 9 performance indicators: academic reputation (30%), reputation with employers (15%), faculty/student ratio (10%), citations by Professor (20%), international research network (5%), employability of graduates (5%), proportion of international students and staff (10%), as well as a sustainability impact indicator (5%).

The University of Montpellier: an internationally recognized academic player

The thematic rankings for 2026 augur equally promising performances. The university is thus pursuing its drive for continuous improvement, with the ambition of boosting its visibility and impact in scientific and academic fields. Pending the publication of these results, the University of Montpellier in 2025 has repeatedly ranked at the top of certain themes, such as agriculture and forestry (75th^place worldwide) and biological sciences (^94th place worldwide). It also holds a place in the top 100 in fields such as earth and marine sciences, environmental sciences, life sciences, geophysics and geology.

The University of Montpellier has also distinguished itself in a number of international rankings.

The UM is also ranked among the top 200 universities in the world in the Shanghai ranking, which covers several themes, as well as in THE Ranking Impact, which measures the commitment and performance of higher education establishments in terms of sustainable development. In its ^6th edition, the UM maintains its number-one position among French institutions, and is ranked among the world's top 101-200 institutions for its long-standing commitment to sustainable development. This year, the UM is in the world's top 50 for 2 objectives, in line with the establishment's major themes: nourish, care for and protect. Indeed, the UM stands out for the sustainable development objective (SDO) "health and well-being", occupying ^30th place worldwide and^1st place in France. In addition, the UM has made significant progress on the "aquatic life" SDG, ranking ^30th worldwide and ^1st in France, once again demonstrating the UM's excellence in the field of ecology.

Finally, the University of Montpellier maintains its status in the CWTS Leiden Ranking. This ranking, which provides important information on the scientific performance of over 1,500 major universities worldwide, is based on scientific publications and their citations. In the 2024 world ranking, the University of Montpellier once again confirms its scientific influence at both national and international level, with a^4th place in France (first provincial university) and a ^203rd place worldwide.

According to the Reuters ranking of the most innovative universities, the University of Montpellier ranks second in France and ^17th in Europe.