Kampala, Uganda – Makerere University, Uganda’s premier institution of higher learning, has slipped in the latest global university rankings, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024.
The university, which ranked among the top 801-1000 universities globally in the 2024 rankings, has dropped to the 1,201-1,500 band.
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Despite the slip, Makerere University remains Uganda’s top-ranked university.
The rankings, released on October 7, 2024, feature a record 54 universities from 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
University of Cape Town in South Africa leads the region, ranking 180th globally, while Nigeria’s Covenant University maintained its position in the 801-1000 band.
Globally, University of Oxford topped the rankings for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
The rankings assessed 2,092 universities from 115 countries and regions, using 18 performance indicators across five pillars: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and internationalisation.
Experts attribute the fluctuations in rankings to various factors, including research output, curriculum changes, funding, faculty-student ratio, and shifts in global ranking methodologies.
Makerere University’s slip in rankings raises questions about the challenges facing African universities in competing globally.
“The rankings highlight the need for African universities to invest in research, infrastructure, and academic staff quality,” said an education expert at Makerere University.
The full rankings are available on the Times Higher Education website.
