This page relates to the pilot edition of the QS Sustainability Ranking. For the current methodology, please visit here.
This lens assesses how institutions are educating students to both understand and make a difference to the environment. It combines: academic reputation in Earth and Marine Sciences & Environmental Science; Alumni Impact data on those who go on to drive policy and third-sector work in the environment; presence of environmental research centres and available curriculum on climate related subjects. The data is aggregated to form a final score.
Weights of metrics for Sustainable Education:
| Metric | Weight (In the lens / Overall) |
| Academic Reputation for Sustainable Education | 50.0% / 10% |
| Alumni Impact for Environmental Sustainability | 25.0% / 5% |
| Research Centre focused on Environmental Sustainability | 10.0% / 2% |
| Climate Science and/or Sustainability Courses | 15.0% / 3% |
Academic Reputation for Sustainable Education
This is a score of an institution by our Academic Reputation indicator, used in QS World University Rankings by Subject. Academic reputation in the following subjects is averaged:
- Earth & Marine Sciences;
- Environmental Sciences.
An academic reputation in the specific subject is non-zero if institution is eligible for that subject and included in that subject (see eligibility and inclusion criteria for QS World University Rankings by Subject).
Alumni Impact for Environmental Sustainability
Alumni Impact is a well-known metric used in QS Global MBA and Business Masters Rankings, as well as a featured component of the Employment Outcomes indicator in QS World University Rankings. In order to estimate Alumni Impact for Environmental Sustainability, we used only relevant awards / lists such as "Champions of the Earth" by UN, "Blue Planet Prize" by Asahi Glass Foundation, etc.
Research Center focused on Environmental Sustainability
Each institution provides a public link to their research center with a specific focus on environmental sustainability, QS validates the links, once validated the institution gets a score of 0 or 100.
Climate Science and/or Sustainability Courses
Each institution provides a public link to their courses that teach specifically on climate science and/or sustainability, QS validates the links, once validated the institution gets a score of 0 or 100.