ROME – Forty-three Italian institutions have been included in the 2019 World University Rankings published by the Times Higher Education, official sources said on Thursday.

 Three Italian universities have been included in the top 200 – “Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna”, “Scuola Normale di Pisa” and new entry University of Bologna. Generally, the Italian trend is positive with significant improvement compared to previous years. But experts are concerned that the change in political climate in Europe may have a detrimental impact on higher education.

 “It has been a very positive year for Italy” said editorial director of the rankings Phil Baty. The “Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna” has gained two positions standing 153^rd, whereas the “Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa” has jumped over 21 competitors currently standing in 161^st position. Good position also for the University of Bologna standing at 180^th , entering the top 200 league table.

 Oxford and Cambridge take the top two places of the league tables highlighting the Oxbridge education dominance. Publishers said that “individual stars” go against the trend of British universities slipping back in the rankings. For the first time Japan is the second country for number of institutions listed, surpassing Britain and taking second place behind the United States. “UK universities have taken a hit” said Batty.

 Seven European institutions are represented in the 2019 top 30, the same as last year’s table with Europe also occupying half of the top 200 ranking. After the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France are the highest represented countries. As European numbers are in slight growth, Asia continues to rise rapidly.

 “European and British universities will lose out if its pan-European mobility and research collaborations are restricted as a result of Brexit, while the rise in far-right populism is already impacting universities’ academic freedom as a result of Brexit” said World Ranking editor Ellie Bothwell.

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