Harvard University has ranked in the top among 12 subjects included in the QS World University Rankings for 2019, which was released on Tuesday.
The university received first place rankings in accounting and finance, biological science, business and management, economics, history, law, theology, psychology, sociology, politics and international studies, modern language, and medicine.
To rank the universities, the global higher education analyst QS surveyed 83,000 academics and 42,000 employers to determine the reputation of the subjects internationally. QS also took research citations and h-index into consideration to effectively gauge the impact of research on relevant subjects.
Following Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology came in second overall for securing first place rankings in 11 subjects areas including chemistry, computer science and information systems, chemical engineering, civil and structural engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering, linguistics, materials science, mathematics, physics and astronomy, and statistics and operational research.
Overall, the survey uncovered a drop in the number of first place subject rankings held by U.S. universities, decreasing from 34 in 2018 to 28 in 2019. However, the U.S. still holds top rank with 234 top-ten departments in the world, followed by the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
“The major narrative emerging here is the perhaps-inexorable erosion of United States pre-eminence,” Ben Sowter, Research Director at QS said in a statement.
“Since 2015, it has lost 10% of its top-ranked research departments, with China, Australia, and the United Kingdom the major beneficiaries. UK research performance stays strong despite considerable funding cuts, though the contribution that EU research collaboration has made to this success cannot be understated.”