Pitt drops in QS world listing but maintains U.S. position
Pitt fell from No. 106 to rank No. 111 worldwide in the QS Top Universities 2014 World University Rankings. Pitt placed No. 32 among American universities, the same as in 2013.
MIT ranked No. 1 in the annual global ranking, released last week. Cambridge and Imperial College London tied at No. 2, followed by Harvard at No. 4 and Oxford and University College London tied at No. 5. Stanford, Caltech, Princeton and Yale rounded out the top 10.
QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a global provider of specialist higher education and careers information, has produced the world rankings each year for the past decade. This year’s list ranks the world’s top 800 institutions.
Rankings are based on:
• Academic reputation (40 percent) using a global survey in which academics were asked to identify where they believed the best work in their field of expertise is taking place. Pitt placed No. 216 worldwide.
• Employer reputation (10 percent) using a global survey in which employers were asked which institutions produce the best graduates. Pitt was ranked among schools placing No. 401+ and not individually ranked in this indicator.
• Student-faculty ratio (20 percent). Pitt ranked No. 47.
• Citations per faculty member (20 percent), based on the past five years of Scopus research database data. Pitt ranked No. 85.
• International faculty and international student ratios (5 percent each), based on the proportion of international students and faculty members overall. Pitt ranked No. 257 in the faculty category and No. 251 in the student category.
Faculty rankings 
In an accompanying ranking of strength of faculty in five academic areas, Pitt placed No. 111 in arts and humanities, No. 270 in engineering and technology, No. 71 in life sciences and medicine, No. 242 in natural science and No. 301 in social sciences and management.
The faculty rankings were based on surveys of academics and employers and research citations data.
The complete rankings are at www.topuniversities.com/qs-world-university-rankings.
—Kimberly K. Barlow