QS World University Ranking

The QS World University Ranking compares 1,500 universities. Four major areas of interest for prospective students are assessed: Research, teaching, employability and international orientation. These four key areas are assessed on the basis of nine indicators, each with different weights.

The QS World University Ranking 2026 was published in 2025 and analysis data from the time period 2019 - 2024. The University of Cologne is ranked 272th in the current QS World University Ranking (17th nationally) and is among the top 18 percent of all ranked universities worldwide: Weblink

In addition, the QS rankings publishes rankings for 55 subjects in five broad subject areas.

QS World University Ranking by subject

The current QS World University Ranking by Subject 2025 is based on reputation surveys from 2024 and publication data from 2018-2023. It is calculated from five indicators*: Academic reputation (50%), employer reputation (30%), researcher citations per paper (7,5%), H-index (7,5%) and international reseach network (5%).

In the "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 - Social Sciences and Management" the WiSo Faculty of the University of Cologne is the 10th best Faculty in Germany and ranks 284th internationally
- Accounting and Finance: rank 9 national, rank 301-375 international
- Business and Management Studies: rank 8 national, rank 301-350 international
- Economics and Econometrics: rank 8 national, rank 201-250 international
- Politics: rank 12 national, rank 251-300 international
- Sociology: rank 5 national, rank 151-200 international

^{*The weights vary depending on the subject, the ones given here belong to the subject social science and management.}