The University of Havana has fallen to 691st place in the world university ranking

The University of Havana (UH), the main institution for higher education in Cuba, has experienced a decline in its academic reputation, dropping from its position of 467 in 2023 to 691 in the QS World University Rankings for 2024.

The decline represents over 200 points in the ranking compiled by the prestigious British firm, after evaluating factors such as citation of academic articles by faculty, academic reputation, employment opportunities, international students enrolled at the university, international research networks, among others.

The leaders of the ranking are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, and the University of Oxford.

At the Latin American level, the leading institutions are the University of Buenos Aires, the University of São Paulo, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC), and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). On a continental scale, the UH ranks 33rd.

Founded on January 5, 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest in Cuba and one of the first established in the Americas. It currently has an enrollment of 13,471 students.

Compared to its previous results, the UH plummeted in nearly all evaluated quality aspects, while other universities made progress in the region.

In 2020, UH made its debut on the list of the top 500 universities according to the QS World University Rankings.

Two years later, it improved by 43 positions compared to the previous year. The Havana university ranked 467th on the list that time.

The annual ranking by the British consulting firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has become a benchmark for both students and professors regarding the academic performance of universities worldwide.

Another ranking, the SCImago Institutions Rankings 2024, published in May, also highlighted the poor performance of Cuban higher education. In this instance, at the country level, the University of Medical Sciences of Havana ranked the highest, coming in at 203, followed by the University of Havana (322), the Central University of Las Villas (394), the University of Oriente (399), and the University of Cienfuegos (416).