On Wednesday, May 6, 2020 “Reitingai” magazine announced their annual rankings of Lithuanian higher education institutions. Among the criteria of the Rankings are the quality of studies and current and future academic staff, student satisfaction, teaching staff competencies and employability of graduates. For more than five years, Kaunas University of Technology sustains a strong second position and keeps increasing the overall ranking score.
This year’s rankings confirm that KTU is one of the best universities in Lithuania. Comparing with the last year, KTU’s overall score increased from 61.1 to 62.22, and since 2016 – by more than 7.3 points.
“Although there are existing various opinions about the quality and sense of the significance of different university rankings, nobody can argue with their importance. The universities put a lot of effort to increase their positions in the rankings. The ability to sustain the position, not to lose it is not only a great honour but also an important motivational means for the university community”, says Lolita Jurkšienė, the Director of KTU Department of Performance Management.
For more than five years, KTU has been ranked as the second-best university in Lithuania, and at least for four years in a row, its overall score in the national rankings is increasing.
“Reitingai” magazine rankings are the most important national rankings in Lithuania. In the rankings, the higher education institutions are ranked by the following criteria: research, art/sports activities and the highest achievements by the academic staff, added value created by alumni and employers’ evaluation, students and studies, competitiveness in the international study arena, current and future academic staff, students’ attitude towards their university.
The best-ranked KTU criterion is Current and Future Academic Staff, in which it scored 7.85 out of 10. This is the best score in this category among all Lithuanian universities.
Comparing with the last year, the score of Student and Studies criterion grew from 11.3 to 12.29. This criterion reflects on the results of the most talented students, the proportion of students studying with a scholarship, the number of PhD study places and the percentage of the drop-outs.
The biggest rise was achieved in the criterion of Alumni Added Value and Employers’ Evaluation – KTU scored 19.9 out of 25 possible points. One part of this criterion evaluation is based on the results of the employers’ survey, aiming to evaluate if the graduates are meeting the needs of the enterprises. The other part is determined by the employability percentage.
57 per cent of the employers’ participating in the survey agreed that KTU graduates’ skills and knowledge are matching their needs. This result is one of the best among all the universities who participated in the rankings.
The university also improved its score in the Competitiveness in the International Study Arena criterion by scoring 9.26 points out of 16. According to Jurkšienė, even the smallest positive change in this criterion is very important, as competitiveness in the international arena is a very challenging process.
“There is a saying: you cannot be good at everything you do, therefore for us, at KTU it is very important to focus on priorities. The rankings allow to see the big picture and to evaluate ourselves in the context of other players. Also, as we all know, rankings are an important tool for a potential student choosing a university”, says Jurkšienė.
Interested in studying at KTU? Admissions to Autumn Semester 2020/2021 are now open. Choose your studies and apply today.
