ranking

Rankings, accreditations and evaluations

To reach our goals and continuously improve our university, we regularly evaluate the quality and effectiveness of education, research and societal impact as well as the university services through external and internal evaluations.

Rankings

Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025
401-500
Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2024: Business Administration
22
Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject 2024: Business and Economics
251-300

Rankings are one way of assessing and ranking universities. The benchmarks primarily measure research performance, as high standards of research are valued. Universities are often compared in terms of peer review and the number of citations in scientific publications. Various rankings also measure reputation, scientific and teaching excellence, the number of degrees, internationality and Nobel laureates. All rankings use different data and calculation models. There are both university rankings and discipline-specific rankings.

The ranking results provide important information for the university on its strengths. In particular, the strengths of the University of Vaasa include the number of scientific publications, the number of citations to scientific articles (meaning the impact of publications) and international co-publications.

Below you can find more information on the rankings in which the University of Vaasa has been placed.

The THE (Times Higher Education) World University Rankings evaluates universities in five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook and industry. 

The University of Vaasa was ranked in the 401-500 bracket worldwide in the 2025 edition of the ranking where 2,092 universities were evaluated. The University of Vaasa performed especially well in research quality and international outlook. 

The ranking included 10 Finnish universities. In terms of the overall national rank, the University of Vaasa was ranked =7th, and 2nd in research quality and 4th international outlook. 

Read news about the ranking result. 

The University of Vaasa is ranked in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject at 251-300 in the subject of business and economics. We are also ranked in engineering (301-400) and social sciences (501-600).

The University of Vaasa received a high score in terms of research quality and international outlook. In business and economics, we were second best in Finland for research quality and third best in Finland for international outlook. In engineering, we were the best in Finland for research quality.

The THE World University Rankings by subject ranking uses the same trusted and rigorous performance indicators as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, but the methodology has been recalibrated to suit the individual fields.

Read news about the ranking result.

The University of Vaasa is ranked 73rd among the 673 young universities evaluated, and 6th among Nordic universities.

The 2024 THE Young University Rankings list the world’s best universities that are 50 years old or younger. It applies the same methodology as the World University Rankings, with recalibrated weightings to reflect the profiles of young universities.

The ranking evaluates universities in five areas: research quality, industry, international outlook, research environment, and teaching.

Read news about the ranking result. 

The University of Vaasa is ranked 22nd in the world & number one in Finland in business administration in the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) published by Shanghai Ranking. In 2024, the ranking evaluated more than 1,900 universities from 96 countries.

The ranking takes into account, for example, the quality and impact of research, publications in top journals, international cooperation, and significant academic awards. The ranking covered 55 disciplines in natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences, and social sciences.

Read news about the ranking result.

Shanghai Ranking GRAS 2024 top 50 Business Administration

The University of Vaasa is ranked 17th in the Times Higher Education (THE) Small Universities Ranking. Among the Nordic universities, the university is ranked 2nd. THE Small Universities Ranking evaluates 88 universities around the world.

The 2024 THE Small Universities Ranking highlights those universities that deliver outstanding results with a relatively small student body while meeting all the criteria of THE World University Ranking. 

Read news about the result.

Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings measure global universities’ success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development contains 17 SDGs. 

In 2024, the University of Vaasa was assessed regarding six SDGs. In the assessment per SDG, the University entered the top 300 in three categories which all align with the University’s mission of sustainable business, energy, and society: Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), Climate action (SDG 13) and Peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16). The University of Vaasa is ranked overall among the top 801-1000, and the score improved from 55.3 to 62.6. 

Read news about the result.

The University of Vaasa has been ranked 134th in the Best Global Universities for Economics and Business ranking published by U.S. News (2024-2025). The 10th annual U.S. News Best Global Universities rankings examine the leaders in key academic subject areas.

This result places our university among the top six Nordic universities and the top three Finnish universities.

See the ranking results at U.S. News website.

The University of Vaasa ranked 760th in the QS Sustainability Rankings 2025. Nationally the University’s rank improved to 8th in Finland.

Using a methodology comprised of indicators designed to measure an institution's ability to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges, the QS Sustainability Rankings 2025 features nearly 1,800 universities from around the world.

Accreditations

Accreditations are quality labels that universities can apply for at the international level for their teaching. The University of Vaasa uses accreditations as a means of improving the quality of its activities. The aim is to obtain an international quality label for all the university's degree programmes in the future.

  • We are a close-knit and international university community
  • We make an innovative and responsible contribution to the society around us
  • We promote sustainability in all our activities

AACSB

The University of Vaasa received an internationally renowned AACSB accreditation for business studies in August 2024. The accreditation is valid for six years and it covers all degree programmes in business studies. The recognition reflects excellence and high quality in economics and business administration education and research. Less than 6 percent of the world's schools offering business degree programs have received AACSB accreditation. 

Established in 1916, AACSB International (AACSB) is the world’s largest business education alliance, connecting educators, learners, and business to create the next generation of great leaders. With members in over 100 countries and territories, AACSB fosters engagement, accelerates innovation, and amplifies impact in business education.

EFMD

EFMD is a quality label for business and management education programmes with an international focus.

University of Vaasa EFMD-accredited master's programmes in business studies: 

AACSB Accredited
EFMD

International accreditation by the German organisation ASIIN is mainly for degree programmes in technology and science.

ASIIN-accredited bachelor's and master's programmes at the University of Vaasa:

ASIIN accreditation logo

Research evaluations

The University of Vaasa regularly evaluates the quality of its research, the research environment and the conditions of doing research. The aim of the external evaluations is to strengthen the quality of the research internationally, to advance academic and societal impacts of the research, and to further develop prerequisites for the research activities.

Overall research evaluations have been carried out at the university in 2022, 2015 and 2010. Diversity, meaningfulness, and focus on future were important features of the recent international research evaluation in 2022 (Research Assessment Exercise, Report 2023). 

It targeted at various aspects of research performance including scholarly publications, research funding, research cooperation and environment, and societal impact of research. According to the expert panels’ assessment, many of the university's research groups are at a high international level. The represented and timely research fields of the university enable development towards increasingly high-quality international research. The university's regional cooperation is also very strong, e.g. in the form of joint research projects.

Read more about RAE Univaasa 2022: Research at the University of Vaasa has been assessed: several research groups at a high international level

The University of Vaasa systematically takes care of the conditions for conducting research and the work of researchers. The university has also received recognition for actively enhancing researchers' working conditions and career development. 

The university participates in the European Commission's quality program (HRS4R). The related external evaluation awarded the university the HR Excellence in Research quality label for the first time in 2014. For receiving the quality label, the university commits to the common European recommendations and principles in all its practices aimed at improving the working conditions of researchers. 

In the re-evaluation in the spring of 2023, the university again performed successfully. According to the evaluation team, the University of Vaasa offers the opportunity to build a successful university career in an international and diverse community.

Read more about HRS4R: Recognition for the University of Vaasa as an inspiring and responsible work environment

News

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