Makerere University Tops as the Only East African Institution in the World’s Top 1000!

Makerere University, Uganda’s leading university, has been ranked among the top 1000 universities in the world by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) in rankings announced Tuesday.

20,531 institutions were ranked, and those that placed at the top made the Global 2000 list.

Background on Makerere’s Decline

Back on April 29, 2023, Makerere University declined in global university rankings on staffing deficits.

Dr Cyprian Misinde, the director of quality assurance at Makerere University, told Saturday Monitor in a phone interview that staffing deficits have landed a sledgehammer blow.
He said: “Given our numbers and the positions, which are not filled—actually in almost every unit, you will find either less than 50 per cent or 50 per cent of the positions are filled. This affects that ratio.” 
He added: “Because we are a big university, we need more but the staff is limited due to funding. There is a limit to which the government can fund and that limits the number of staff.”

Bright Side

Makerere, which ranks 950th, has outperformed rival East African universities such as the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, and the University of Dar es Salaam.

The original rankings list contains the top 2000 universities in the world, placing the University of Nairobi (UoN) second to Makerere University. UoN is ranked 1,425th, making the two universities the only ones in the East African region to make the list (top 2000).

However, Makerere slipped 5 places from the previous CWUR rankings, which was ascribed to a reduction in the employability score and research.

Read Also: KIU Western Campus to Hold Medical Camp in Alebtong District

Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are at the top of the list, in that order.

About CWUR rankings

The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) is the only academic ranking of worldwide institutions that evaluates educational quality, alumni employment, faculty quality, and research performance without depending on surveys or university data submissions.

To evaluate the world’s universities, CWUR employs seven objective and robust variables divided into four categories: education, employability, faculty, and research.