Ups and downs in latest SA university rankings
The soon-to-be-merged universities of Adelaide and South Australia went in different directions under a new ranking of world universities, while Flinders University made a big move up.
Photo: InDaily
The University of Adelaide rose from 89th to 82nd place in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings released today, while UniSA dropped from 326th to 340th.
The drop puts UniSA below Flinders University, which jumped from 380th place to 336th.
Flinders’ 2025 ranking is nearly 100 places better than its 425th placed finish in 2023, with Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling attributing the result to “nation-leading performance in research growth”.
The QS rankings evaluate more than 1500 universities across the world on factors such as academic reputation (30 per cent weighting), citations per faculty (20 per cent), employer reputation (15 per cent) and faculty student ratio (10 per cent).
The University of Adelaide ranked eighth among Australian universities this year between the University of Western Australia (77th) and the University of Technology Sydney (88th).
UniSA and Flinders ranked 21st and 22nd respectively among Australian institutions.
UniSA deputy vice-chancellor of research and enterprise, Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington, said of the ranking result: “UniSA is pleased to see a year in which its performance has risen in five of nine indicators in the QS World Rankings, one of which is our research performance.”
“We are looking forward to contributing to a strong result for Adelaide University from 2026.”
University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Professor Peter Høj said his university’s ranking was a credit to the institution’s researchers.
“These ranking results demonstrate the value and quality of the work carried out by our researchers, who are finding solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” he said.
“We wouldn’t have reached this point without the strong collaboration with our international partner networks, who extend our reach and reputation.
“The recognition is also beneficial for our students as it demonstrates they are learning from some of the brightest minds in the world who can prepare them to make their own mark in the world – something we not only observe here in Australia but also internationally.”
The QS rankings are one of three major indices for world universities alongside the Times Higher Education and Academic Ranking of World Universities.
The University of Adelaide is placed outside the top 100 in the Times Higher (111th) and Academic Ranking (157th), while UniSA is between 301 and 350 on the Times Higher and 501 to 600 on the Academic Ranking.
The rankings come as staff at the University of Adelaide and UniSA work to merge their institutions by January 2026.
Proponents of the merger have consistently argued that amalgamating the two institutions is the only way a South Australian university can be sustainably ranked in the top 100.
Høj told a staff merger forum in July last year that if the two universities merged now, the new institution would be “very very close to being in the top 100 already”.
He said today: “The University’s ability to consistently rank within the top 100 institutions in the world augers well for the new Adelaide University with its ambition to also be among the highest ranked institutions in Australia as a leading global university because of the excellent things it will do.”
Costs of uni merger ramp up
Meanwhile, the University of Adelaide incurred $17.8 million in “integration costs” last year to establish the new Adelaide University, according to the university’s annual report tabled in parliament on Tuesday.
The spending went towards “both feasibility/due diligence costs and transition/integration costs”, the annual report states.
The integration costs contributed to the University of Adelaide lower underlying net operating result in 2023 compared to 2022 ($5.31 million down from $13.5 million).
The University of Adelaide and UniSA signed a heads of agreement with the state government in July 2023 to proceed with the creation of Adelaide University.
That agreement followed the two universities undertaking feasibility assessments and creating a transition plan and business case with the help of unnamed external consultants.
Financial projections released by the two universities last year revealed that the merger would require dwindling the two universities’ combined cash balance from $802 million in 2023 to $340 million by 2029.
It also forecast that $430 million in “one-off investment costs” will need to be spent from 2024 to 2026 to allow the new Adelaide University to open in January 2026.
