Published this week, the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2026 (QS WUR Europe) place Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) 243rd out of 958 universities, strengthening its position for the third year in a row and keeping it in Europe’s top quartile. In Northern Europe, KTU ranks 94th and is the second-highest ranked Baltic technical university.
This year’s ranking included almost 40 per cent more institutions than last year, with 291 universities appearing for the first time. The ranking is part of the QS World University Rankings (QS WUR) regional table for Europe, which compares European higher education institutions on a regional (rather than global) scale using criteria tailored to the region (e.g., the number of international exchange students and international student diversity).
Among Baltic universities, KTU placed fourth, following the University of Tartu, Vilnius University, and Tallinn University of Technology. It also ranked second among Baltic technical universities, after Tallinn University of Technology.
This year, KTU achieved its strongest results in indicators such as outgoing exchange students (91.2 points), sustainability (80.8 points), incoming exchange students (75 points), and international research networks (58.3 points). KTU rose by 44 places in the outgoing exchange students indicator and by 27 places in sustainability.
“This shows that KTU is not only rapidly becoming more international but is also moving forward decisively – alongside other European universities – on the path to sustainability, which is critically important for our planet,” says Agnė Latvelė, project manager at the KTU Strategy Monitoring and Quality Department.
She adds that KTU stands out among Lithuanian universities for its achievements, ranking first nationally for citations and publications per academic staff member. KTU is second in Lithuania for academic and employer reputation, international research networks, and sustainability, and third for employment outcomes and outgoing exchange students.
