On top of the rankings

Eötvös Loránd University once again ranked in the prestigious 501–600 category in the 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). In 2023, this result placed ELTE as the top Hungarian university in the ranking. However, this year, the University of Szeged made significant progress in the Chinese ranking—thanks to Nobel laureates Katalin Karikó and Ferenc Krausz—finishing in the 401–500 range, making it the highest-ranked Hungarian institution. As in previous years, ELTE continues to perform best among Hungarian universities in the indicators measuring publication performance.

The 2024 ARWU subject ranking examined the academic programs of 5,000 universities from 96 countries and regions across five major fields of science and 55 narrower subject areas. Ultimately, programs from 1,900 universities made it onto the list. Eötvös Loránd University is ranked in seven subject areas, achieving the top national position in four of them—mathematics, physics, psychology, and education—and a shared first place in environmental science among Hungarian higher education institutions. Compared to last year, ELTE improved its ranking by one category in both mathematics and environmental science. Based on data from the Clarivate database, the university’s research classified under veterinary science appeared in the subject ranking for the first time this year.

Among the 11 Hungarian higher education institutions featured, our university ranked third in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings published in October 2024. The ranking evaluated nearly 2,100 institutions from 115 countries, with just over 1,500 making it onto the list of the world’s best universities. The assessment measured the quality of education and research across five key areas using 18 indicators, including teaching, research, knowledge transfer, citations, international outlook, and industry income.

In the 2025 Times Higher Education (THE) Subject Rankings, Eötvös Loránd University holds the top national position in the fields of humanities, psychology, and life sciences, and shares first place in law and physical sciences. These rankings are based on the methodology used for the THE World University Rankings, with adjustments made to reflect the unique characteristics of each subject area. ELTE appears in 8 out of 11 subject categories: psychology, law, life sciences, physical sciences, humanities, education, social sciences, and computer science.

Despite a significant increase in the number of participating institutions, ELTE maintained its position in the THE Impact Rankings published in June 2024. This ranking evaluates universities worldwide based on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While last year’s list included 1,591 institutions, nearly 2,000 universities were ranked this year. ELTE is placed in the 401–600 category.

Eötvös Loránd University improved its previous position by approximately 140 places, ranking 564th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings published in June 2024, thus becoming the leading higher education institution in Hungary. The ranking evaluated 5,663 institutions from 106 countries, with 1,503 making it onto the final QS WUR list, including 11 from Hungary. Among the evaluated indicators, ELTE ranked first in Hungary for academic reputation, graduate employability, and sustainability. It also placed among the top three nationally in terms of employer reputation and international research collaboration.

In the QS subject rankings of April 2024, nearly 16,000 programs from 1,500 higher education institutions in almost 100 countries were evaluated. Among the five major fields of science, ELTE improved by more than 40 places from last year in humanities, ranking 221st, and reached 298th in natural sciences, making it the top higher education institution in Hungary in both areas. Our university ranked among the world's best in 15 out of 55 narrower subjects, including linguistics, psychology, archaeology, geology, geophysics, history, modern languages, English language and literature, education, and law, uniquely representing Hungary in these 10 areas.

Fifteen Hungarian universities were included in the QS European Rankings published in July 2024. Eötvös Loránd University improved its position by 18 places compared to last year, securing the 190th spot. Following its strong performance in this year’s global ranking, ELTE has once again emerged as the highest-ranked Hungarian university in the regional list as well. In terms of graduate employability, the university ranks 68th in Europe, placing it among the top 100 institutions on the continent. The evaluation methodology places particular emphasis on internationalization and mobility—considered key European values—and has introduced a new indicator this year: International Student Diversity.

In the QS sustainability rankings published in December 2023, featuring the world's top 1400 higher education institutions, 493 from Europe and seven from Hungary, ELTE improved by more than 300 places from the previous year, securing 259th place overall. Tied for the lead in Hungary with the University of Szeged, ELTE performed best in university leadership evaluation (79th), environmental impact (227th), and social impact (432nd) in the rankings, also leading domestically in the first two aspects.

Since 2014, Eötvös Loránd University has been recognized as the leading Hungarian university in the global rankings of the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR). In the 2024 assessment, over 21,000 higher education institutions were evaluated based on the quality of education, alumni employability, faculty excellence, high-quality publications, and citation impact. This year, ELTE ranked 544th, placing it among the top 2.6% of universities worldwide. 

Eötvös Loránd University was also ranked as the top Hungarian higher education institution in the U.S. News & World Report’s global rankings published in August 2024, securing the 485th position. The University achieved notable results in 11 subject areas, ranking 129th in psychology, 135th in space science, and 155th in physics. In addition to these, ELTE was rated as the best institution in Hungary in four further fields: mathematics, geosciences, plant and animal sciences, and social sciences. The university also appeared on the global list in biology and biochemistry, environmental science, chemistry, and clinical medicine, marking its place among the world’s leading universities.

In June 2015, Eötvös Loránd University became the first full member from Hungary of the Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence (IREG), an organization that brings together producers of national and international higher education rankings. IREG is an international non-profit association that deals with ranking creation and the promotion of quality higher education. Full membership is granted to organizations that are exceptionally active in the research and analysis of academic rankings.

In the university ranking published by HVG in November 2024, Eötvös Loránd University continues to lead the list of student excellence. In the academic excellence ranking, it placed fifth, due to the dynamic growth in student numbers not being matched by a proportional increase in qualified academic staff. As a result, the student-to-faculty ratio rose from 16 to 20. Among university faculties, ELTE’s Faculty of Science maintains its top position, while the Faculty of Humanities ranks fifth overall.

The ranking also evaluated Hungary’s leading institutions across 14 fields of study based on full-time student excellence. Reflecting its broad academic portfolio, ELTE ranked among the top institutions in 10 of these areas. It achieved first place in humanities, law, and natural sciences, while in teacher training, two ELTE units—the Teacher Training Centre and the Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education—shared the top spot.

(Source: elte.hu)