University of Freiburg Secures Spot in Top 10 German Universities in QS Europe Rankings 2025

Its highest national ranking in 3^rd place was achieved by the University of Freiburg in outbound exchange students. It also took Top 10 places nationally in sustainability: 4^th place, citations per paper: 6^th place, and international faculty ratio: 9^th place.

Methodology of the QS World University Rankings: Europe

Unlike the overall QS World University Rankings, which assesses universities on the basis of nine indicators, the QS World University Rankings: Europe applies twelve indicators to create its ranking.

Research contributes to the ranking with academic reputation, citations per paper and the number of papers per faculty. International character is determined in the ranking by the indicators international research network, international student diversity (ratio of international students and diversity of nationalities), international faculty ratio, and incoming/outgoing exchange students. To determine employment outcomes, the ranking looks at the reputation of employers and the roles of the alumni. In addition, the faculty student ratio and sustainability are also included as indicators in the ranking.

Analyses of papers is based on results from Elsevier’s Scopus database. Additional data are provided by the universities