University of South Australia is a public university in Adelaide, Australia with more than 37,000 enrolled students. The university promotes a diverse student body and has an enrollment of nearly 6,800 international students representing over 100 countries. It is a relatively young university established in 1991 and one of the world’s Top 50 under 50 institutions. Students are offered more than 200 competitive degree programs in 40+ high demand fields. Some of the most ranked programs offered by the University of South Australia are Business, Nursing, Hospitality and Leisure Management, Exercise and Sports Science, Law, Education, Computer Science and Pharmacy. It is also known as Australia’s University of Enterprise known for its academics, research and industry links. The university has over 2,500 partnerships with global universities, businesses, industry leaders and research institutions. The university has a high research output known for industry research income, impact and engagement.

It is one of the only 11 institutions in Australia to be accredited by AACSB which also makes it one of the top 1% universities worldwide to study business. University of South Australia is rated 5 stars in the QS Stars Ratings 2020 for its excellence in several categories that include research, employability, teaching, facilities, internationalisation, inclusiveness and innovation.

University of South Australia Ranking Highlights

The highlights of the global rankings of University of South Australia are as follows:

  • Ranked 295th in the QS World University Rankings 2021.
  • Secured the 372nd place in the U.S. News Best Global Universities 2021.
  • Among the top 301-350th universities in THE World University Rankings 2021.

University of South Australia World Rankings by QS

University of South Australia ranked #295 in QS World University Rankings 2021. Recently, QS Top Universities also published world university rankings for 2022 wherein UniSA slipped down to the #=326 position. Since 2016 the university has been ranked in the top 300 bracket. However, the university could not retain its position in 2022.

The QS World University Rankings feature top 1000 universities based on 6 indicators. The university scored 32.8 overall. The only category where the university scored 100 was international faculty ratio. The ranking criteria used for evaluation and individual scores for 2022 rankings are given in the table below:

Ranking Criteria Score
Overall 32.8
Academic Reputation 23.1
Citations per Faculty 25.6
Employer Reputation 16.7
Faculty Student Ratio 20.6
International Faculty Ratio 100
International Student Ratio 70.4

A trend of the world ranking of the University of South Australia in QS between 2012 and 2022 can be observed in the graph given below:

University of South Australia World Rankings by THE

THE ranked University of South Australia in the 301-350th bracket in World University Rankings 2021. The university gives close competition to institutions such as RMIT University, Australia, Rush University, USA, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, University of Stirling, UK, etc. which are also ranked in the 301-350th category.

After progressing into the 201-250 bracket in 2018 and 2019, the university slipped into the 251-300 bracket in 2020 and 301-350 bracket in 2021. The rankings of the university in THE are allocated on the basis of 5 indicators that include teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook. The university performs well in the international outlook and industry income categories with scores of 86.2 and 86.9 respectively.

The scores of the university on each of the five metrics used by THE rankings are given in the table below:

Indicator Scores
Teaching 24.5
Research 36.1
Citations 67.2
Industry Income 86.9
International Outlook 86.2

The graph below depicts the positions of the University of South Australia in THE World University Rankings between 2012 and 2021:
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University of South Australia World Rankings by US News

In the U.S. News and World Report 2021, University of South Australia ranks #372 in Best Global Universities. The global score of the university was 54.9 based on thirteen indicators of excellence. The regional research reputation of the university is good ranked at #20 owing to its excellence in research. The table below represents bifurcation of the ranks on the thirteen indicators:

Global Score 54.9
Global research reputation #675
Regional research reputation #27
Publications #434
Books #149
Conferences #642
Normalized citation impact #580
Total citations #418
Number of publications that are among the 10% most cited #417
Percentage of total publications that are among the 10% most cited #609
International collaboration - relative to country #988
International collaboration #534
Number of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited #406
Percentage of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited #572

University of South Australia Rankings in Australia

Coming to the national rankings of the University of South Australia, the university performs well and maintains its place in the top 25 Australian universities in THE, QS and U.S. News. In 2021, the university ranked 22nd in Australia in the U.S. News. It ranked 23rd in THE Best Universities in Australia which ranks 37 top Australian universities. Moreover, the university ranked 17th in QS Australian University Rankings published in 2020. The complete rankings of the University of South Australia in Australia are summarized in the table below:

Ranking Agency Rank
U.S. News Best Global Universities in Australia/ New Zealand 2021 #25
U.S. News Best Global Universities in Australia 2021 #22
THE Best Universities in Australia 2021 =23
QS Australian University Rankings 2020 =17

University of South Australia Subject-wise Ranking by THE

THE subject rankings evaluate 7 disciplines taught by the University of South Australia. Out of the ranked subjects, Business and Economics and Computer Science were the highest-ranked in the top 126-150th. Overall, all subjects were ranked within the top 500 in the world. The subject rankings for 2021 are as follows:

Subject 2021 Rank
Business and Economics #126-150
Computer Science #126-150
Arts and Humanities #201-250
Engineering and Technology #201-250
Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health #251-300
Social Sciences #301-400
Physical Sciences #401-500

University of South Australia Subject Rankings by QS

Around 26 subjects offered by University of South Australia are ranked in the QS WUR by Subject Rankings 2021. Among these, UniSA was chosen as one of the best places in the world to study Nursing, Business, Hospitality and Leisure Management, Exercise and Sports Science, Lawn Education, Pharmacy, Computer Science, etc. The subjects ranked in the 51-100 categories were Nursing, Hospitality and Leisure Management and Exercise and Sports Science. These were followed by Education and Pharmacy ranked in the top 150. Tabulated below are the QS subject rankings for 2021:

Subject 2021 Rank
Nursing #51-100
Hospitality and Leisure Management #51-100
Sport-Related Subjects #51-100
Education and Training #101-150
Pharmacy and Pharmacology #101-150
Accounting and Finance #151-200
Business and Management Studies #151-200
Environmental Sciences #151-200
Architecture and Built Environment #151-200
Art and Design #201-250

University of South Australia Subject Rankings by US News

The U.S. News and World Report 2021 has ranked 12 subjects offered by the University of South Australia. Out of these, 5 subjects ranked in the top 250 in the world. At the top of the list were Business and Economics, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health and Social Sciences and Public Health ranked in the top 150. Other areas of excellence include Pharmacology and Toxicology, Agricultural Sciences, Computer Science, Environment, Engineering, etc. The complete U.S. News subject rankings 2021 for UniSA are tabulated below:

Subject 2021 Rank
Economics and Business #127
Public, Environmental and Occupational Health #135
Social Sciences and Public Health #142
Agricultural Sciences #196
Pharmacology and Toxicology #207
Computer Science #278
Environment/ Ecology #300
Engineering #333
Materials Science #349
Neuroscience and Behavior #357
Clinical Medicine #422
Chemistry #574

University of South Australia Miscellaneous Ranking

Some miscellaneous rankings of the University of South Australia have been stated below:

  • Ranked 101-200th in THE Impact Rankings 2021.
  • Bagged the 29th rank in QS Top 50 Universities Aged Under 50 in 2021.
  • Ranked 25th in the world and 4th in Australia in THE Young University Rankings 2020. It is ranked the 2nd young university in Australia for teaching quality in the same category.
  • In the top #301-500 universities in QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020.
  • Secured the 37th place in THE Best Universities in the Asia-Pacific region in 2019 that featured more than 300 universities from 13 countries.

University of South Australia is not only an excellent university in terms of education but also recognized for its world class research. 100% of the university’s research was rated at or above world class in 2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). It is also ranked no. 1 university in Australia for industry research income in THE World University Rankings 2021. On the industry income indicator of THE Young University Rankings 2020, the university ranked #1 in Australia for industry collaborations. The university has also achieved an overall 5-star plus rating for its excellence in the QS Stars Ratings 2020.