The University of New England rejects world university ranking saying it does not participate in the program

Quacquarelli Symonds rated UNE 801 in the world, down from 651 in 2015 and 701 last year, in its world university rankings.

But UNE’s acting vice chancellor Heiko Daniel said the ranking was so low because the university chose not to participate in the QS surveys.

“UNE does not participate in this ranking program for a number of reasons,” he said.

“It is expensive and time-consuming to participate in the QS and similar surveys, which takes away resources from UNE’s key businesses of teaching and research.

“The rankings system is not quantitative [and] responses can be engineered to favour an institution.

Professor Daniel also said the design of the system favoured larger universities.

Despite this, UNE achieved at top 150 ranking in agriculture.

“Even without actively participating in the QS, UNE consistently comes out within the top 150 in the world in the field of Agriculture,” professor Daniel said.

The country’s top performers include The Australian National University, ranked 20, and The University of Melbourne, ranked 41.

Five other Australian universities achieved a top 100 ranking.

And only The University of the Sunshine Coast ranking lower that UNE.

When questioned about the government’s stance on university rankings, a Department of Education and Training spokesman said universities were fundamentally autonomous.

“The Government does not intervene in their [universities] academic or corporate policies and procedures,” the spokesman said

“Participation in international surveys and how they decide to try and attract students is a matter for the individual institution.”