Local universities also made a strong appearance in the field of developmental studies.
Five South African universities stand out for having some of the best courses in the world in accounting, finance, business and law in the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by subject.
For accounting and finance, the University of Pretoria, University of Cape Town (UCT), University of Witwatersrand (Wits) were well ranked.
For business and management studies, UCT again made an appearance with Stellenbosch University and Wits.
For economics and econometrics, the University of Johannesburg joins the list of UCT, UP, Wits and Stellenbosch University as the top ranked in South Africa.
The ranking identifies the subjects universities are particularly strong at compared to international institutions, with specific focus on academic reputation and research output.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ranked the highest overall, although the University of Pretoria is judged to have the best course in accounting and finance.
The QS ranking is based on a mix of global survey responses, of over 80,000 academics and 40,000 employers, and data, which included analysing 99 million citations from 10.3 million papers, leading to 1,000 institutions being ranked.
The ranking’s biggest indicator, accounting for 40 percent of the total score, is based on academic reputation.
The other indicators are:
- Employer reputation (10 percent)
- Student-to-faculty ratio (20 percent)
- Citations per faculty (20 percent)
- International faculty ratio (five percent)
Local universities also made a strong appearance in the field of developmental studies, with UCT making it into the top 10 globally. UCT has the further distinction of being the only South African university to be ranked among the best in the world for its courses on politics and social policy and administration.
Wits University was ranked 22nd while Stellenbosch University and the University of KwaZulu Natal both made it into the top 100 group.
