ROME – Italian universities are improving in the World University Rankings and La Sapienza in the Italian capital has ranked first for Classical Studies and Ancient History, according to the 2022 results drawn up by UK company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), which specialises in the analysis of higher education institutions. 

 Italy is seventh in the world for the number of places in the ranking, with 56 universities obtaining 507 placements in the various areas taken into consideration.

 The QS league table analyses the performance of 15,200 individual university programs from over 1,500 universities across 51 academic disciplines gathered in five macro-areas, namely Arts and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences and Management.

 Globally, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are confirmed as the best in the world, with first place in twelve categories. Thirteen categories see a British university in first place, with Oxford at the top of six of these.

 Among the Italian universities considered in the World University Rankings, the best-performing 10 are the University of Bologna, La Sapienza of Rome, the Polytechnic of Milan, the State University of Milan, the University of Padua, the Polytechnic of Turin, the University of Pisa, the University of Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the Ca 'Foscari of Venice and the Federico II University of Naples.

 In addition to coming top in Classical Studies and Ancient History, La Sapienza is also in the global top 10 for Archeology.

 “The excellent result of the QS Ranking by subject rewards the great commitment of our community which is reflected in all areas of knowledge,” commented the director Antonella Polimeni. In addition to La Sapienza, the Politecnico di Milano was ranked in fifth place for its  Design department and sixth for Architecture.

 The Free International University of Social Studies (LUISS) is also growing, entering the top 100 in the world for the Social Sciences and Management area. LUISS is 22nd in the ranking of Political and International Studies.

 "Being among the top 100 universities in the world in Social Sciences, among the top 25 in Political Sciences, and climbing the top positions in Italy and Europe in all other areas, makes us particularly proud", said the LUISS rector, Andrea Principe.

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