Founded in 1970, in Townsville city, North Queensland of Australia, James Cook University ranks among the top 2% of tertiary institutions in the world as per agencies such as QS and THE. Around 21,000 students seek admission to James Cook University every year with international students accounting for around 11% from around 108 countries.

Alumni from James Cook University hold roles in some of the world's leading international organisations such as the United Nations, the Red Cross, Apple and National Geographic. Considered as one of the oldest universities of Australia, James Cook is one of the top 20 universities in Australia that aims at developing graduates who can thrive in a global workforce with their knowledge, skills and experience. It has also received five stars from Good University Guide 2020 for student support, skill development, learner engagement and full-time employment

James Cook University Ranking Highlights

James Cook University has gained popularity around the globe for its research work as well as academic excellence. Not only are students and alumni recognised for their academic and professional success, but the faculty is also well-qualified.

Highlights of rankings awarded to James Cook University by some agencies are mentioned below:

Agency Ranking
Times Higher Education 2021 rankings 201-250th
Impact Rankings by Times Higher Education 91st
Young Universities ranking by Times Higher Education 29th
Best Global Universities by U.S. News 287
World University rankings by CWUR 390
World ranking by UN SDG in quality education 10
World ranking on promoting the UN’s SDG of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions 22

James Cook University Global Ranking 2021

James Cook University was placed among the top 300th universities in the world by various agencies such as QS, Times Higher Education, US News and the like. The rankings have been explained in detail below.

QS World University Ranking 2021

According to QS World University Rankings 2022, James Cook University ranked #424 globally. The following criteria were used to decide the ranking -

  • Academic reputation - 15.1%
  • Citations per faculty - 65.1%
  • Employer reputation - 11.3%
  • Faculty Student ratio - 9.5%
  • International faculty ratio - 64.7
  • International students ratio - 33.8

Times Higher Education Ranking 2021

Following are the rankings of James Cook University published by Times Higher Education -

  • James Cook University ranked within 201-250th in rankings published by THE World University Rankings 2021.
  • The University also ranked 91st in impact rankings 2021
  • James Cook University ranked #29th in Times Higher Education Young Universities Ranking 2020.

US News Ranking 2021

As per rankings published by US News for best global universities 2021, James Cook University secured the 287th position. Thirteen indicators were used to evaluate James Cook’s overall ranking. A breakdown of the University’s performance for each indicator is given below -

Indicator Performance Score
Global Score 58.5
Global Research Reputation #507
Regional research reputation #29
Publications #503
Books #425
Conferences #1350
Normalized citation impact #209
Total citations #392
Number of publications that are among the 10% most cited #428
Percentage of total publications that are among the 10% most cited #384
International collaboration - relative to the country #564
International collaboration #365
Number of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited #365
Percentage of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited #295

James Cook University National Ranking 2021

James Cook University is highly popular in Australia for its world-class education, hands-on learning, specialised research centres and institutions and state of the art facilities. The Good University Guide also awarded five stars to James Cook University for skill development and learners engagement.

The national positions gained by James Cook University by some agencies are mentioned below-

Agency Ranking
Best Universities in Australia by U.S. News 19
Best Universities in Australia/New Zealand by U.S. News 21
Postgraduate full-time employment and postgraduate starting salary placed ratings in Queensland by Good University Guide 1
Regional research reputation by U.S. News 29
University Ranking by CWUR 13

James Cook University has also won the creating impact award for the TropEco program of Australia. Given the university's exotic location, the university has tried its best in taking care of the environment and nature as well as teaching students the importance of nature and being involved in environment-friendly activities.

James Cook University Ranking by Subject 2021

James Cook University offers over 50 undergraduate, postgraduate courses in various study areas such as engineering, law, business management, biomedical sciences, information technology and the like. Some of the programs at James Cook University have also ranked globally as per rankings published by various agencies.

James Cook University QS WUR Rankings by Subject 2021

The overall ranking of James Cook University according to QS WUR Ranking by Subject 2021 is between #51-100. The ranking of individual subjects are given below -

  • Earth and Marine Sciences ranked within #51-100.
  • Hospitality and leisure management was ranked #51-100
  • Environmental sciences ranked #80
  • Geology ranked #101-150
  • Agriculture and Forestry ranked #151-200

While deciding the ranks of the program, academic reputation, H-index citation and citations per paper was used as criteria.

James Cook University US News Subjects Rankings 2021

The table below shows the US News Subjects rankings of programs offered at James Cook University

Subjects Ranks
Clinical Medicine 431
Environment/Ecology 19
Plant and Animal Science 60
Immunology 242
Social Science and Public Health 215

James Cook University Subject Ranking by THE 2021

Given below are the rankings by Times Higher Education of the year 2021 for different subjects taught in James Cook University-

Subjects Ranks
Clinical Medicine 251-300th
Engineering & Technology 301-400th
Life Sciences 101-125th
Physical Sciences 201-250th
Social Sciences 201-250th
Business & Economics 301-400th
Education 251-300th

Based on the data provided, students seeking admission to James Cook University can form a fair idea of the quality of the programs offered here.

James Cook University Miscellaneous Global Rankings by THE 2021

Given below are a few other rankings of James Cook University by Times Higher Education -

Discipline Overall Ranking
Teaching 22.5
Research 28.9
Citations 94.2
Industry Income 45.3
International Outlook 76.4

We can look at the consistency of the university’s performance by looking at 2016- 2021 Ranking positions by THE -

  • 2016-> 251- 300
  • 2017-> 251- 300
  • 2018-> 201- 250
  • 2019-> 201- 250
  • 2020-> 201- 250
  • 2021-> 201- 250

James Cook University vs Other Australian Universities: Comparison

The table below gives a comparison of James Cook University with some of the top universities in Australia -

University James Cook University Curtin University Griffith University
World University Rankings 2021 (THE) 201-250th 201-250th 201-250th
Young University Rankings 2020 (THE) 29 34 30
Established 1982 1966 1971
International students 11% 32% 17%
Best Global University in Australia (US News) 287 174 217
Regional research reputation 29 21 16

By looking at the above rankings and comparing we can see how James Cook University has persisted from the tough competitions of other neighbouring universities in Australia like Griffith University.

If someone is looking to study abroad in the field of academic research then James Cook University is a good choice. The University was rated “world-class or above” in 38 of the 46 research fields evaluated by ERA(Excellence in research for Australia). Along with this James Cook University is also ranked second in the world for biodiversity conservation and ranked first for a global partnership for sustainable development.