STEM degrees: Top 5 universities in the world according to latest QS rankings

The latest QS World Rankings by Subject 2020 has been released, enlightening international students on which are the top universities for their respective majors.

The rankings are based on four indicators: Academic reputation, Employer reputation, Research citations and H-index.

“Of the four, two are derived from global surveys of academic and employer insight – indicators which underlie all QS rankings, and which now draw on the wisdom of over 130,000 specialists,” according to the report.

“The academic survey works by asking active university experts where they are, those subjects in which they specialise, and which are the top universities in the world for these disciplines.

“The employer survey asks recruiters what type of graduates they recruit and from where they typically hire their most prepared, hireable, successful employees.”

The H-index refers to a measure of the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist

way of measuring both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The index is based on the set of the academic’s most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other publications.

International students’ favourites

STEM subjects usually rank in the top five broad fields of study at the main study abroad destinations. In the US, the top three most popular fields of choice among international students are engineering, math and computer science.

Explore the most popular #STEM majors for international students in the U.S.: https://t.co/sltbJELhxW#intlstudents #highereducation

— World Education Services (@WESPicks) March 28, 2019

In the US, students in STEM fields can qualify for Optional Practical Training (OPT) work extension where they can gain employment and work experience before heading back to their home countries or applying for H1-B work visas.

For example, an international student who majored in computer science is eligible to apply for 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) along with an optional 24-month STEM OPT extension if they are able to land a job or internship.

These are the top universities for five popular STEM fields. For the full list and other subject rankings, please visit the official website.

Engineering and Technology

2020 Ranking	University	Location
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	US
2	Stanford University	US
3	University of Cambridge	UK
4	ETH Zurich – Swiss Institute of Technology	Switzerland
5	University of California Berkeley	US

Mathematics

2020 Ranking	University	Location
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	US
2	Harvard University	US
3	Stanford University	US
4	University of Cambridge	UK
5	University of Oxford	UK

Life Sciences and Medicine

2020 Ranking	University	Location
1	Harvard University	United States
2	University of Oxford	United States
3	University of Cambridge	United States
4	Stanford University	United States
5	John Hopkins University	United Kingdom

Earth and Marine Sciences

2020 Ranking	University	Location
1	ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)	Switzerland
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	US
3	Harvard University	US
4	University of Cambridge	UK
5	University of Oxford	UK

Computer Science & Information Systems

2020 Ranking	University	Location
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	US
2	Stanford University	US
3	Carnegie Mellon University	US
4	University of California, Berkeley	US
5	University of Oxford	UK

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