The new QS World Rankings by Subject confirm Concordia’s place among the world’s best

Each year, the QS World University Rankings by Subject adds to the list of global institutions it evaluates. Its numbers have increased by 30 per cent over the past five years alone, from 1,117 in 2017 to 1,453 in 2021.

Yet Concordia continues to hold its own internationally and even make some gains.

In the newly released 2021 QS rankings, the university appeared in 15 out of 51 subject rankings, as it did in 2020. However, Concordia advanced in five subjects, including one new addition — Geography — and it kept its spot in eight others.

Compared to 2020, Concordia improved in the following subject areas:

• Accounting & Finance (201-250, up from 251-300)
• Electrical & Electronic Engineering (151-200, up from 201-250)
• Geography (151-200, not ranked)
• Linguistics (201-250, up from 251-300)
• Economics & Econometrics (351-400, up from 401-450)

The university’s best-ranked subject, Art & Design, remained in the world’s top 100 and placed second among Canadian universities, while Communication & Media Studies was ranked fourth in the country. In all, Concordia ranked in the top 10 in Canada in seven out of 15 subjects.

Concordia maintained its position in eight subjects internationally:

• Architecture / Built Environment (151-200)
• Art & Design (51-100)
• Business & Management Studies (251-300)
• Communication & Media Studies (101-150)
• Computer Science & Information Systems (251-300)
• English Language & Literature (151-200)
• Mathematics (301-350)
• Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering (251-300)

The university slipped in three subjects from 2020: Education (301-350, down from 251-300); Medicine (601-650, down from 551-600); and Sociology (not ranked this year, 251-300).

QS also placed Concordia in three of the five broad subject areas: Arts & Humanities (200, up from 212 last year); Engineering & Technology (281, up from 286 last year); and Social Sciences & Management (388, down from 369 last year).

QS bases its subject rankings on four indicators, with varying weightings by subject: reputation among academics; reputation among employers; citations per published paper; and h-index, which attempts to measure published works’ productivity and impact. 

To see the full rankings, visit QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021.