Veterinary Education: The 2018 Ranking of the World's Top 50 Veterinary Schools Has Been Released

For the fourth consecutive year, the list of the top 50 veterinary schools worldwide has just been published. The QS World University Rankings compares 50 of the leading international universities in the field of veterinary science, representing 18 countries in the Americas and Europe. Once again, France is missing from the list: the country’s national veterinary schools are still absent from this ranking.[2025 Ranking: Click here]   

In total, 48 different disciplines are included in the QS World University Rankings, and 74 countries are represented this year. On the podium of the world’s best veterinary schools in 2018, UC Davis (California) retains its top spot, followed by Cornell University (New York). These two American universities are ahead of the Royal Veterinary College in London, which has been ranked third since 2015. Thus, the United Kingdom remains at the top among countries outside North America. Once again this year, the United States leads the rankings of the best veterinary schools by a wide margin, with 19 universities among the top 50. Also in North America, Canada has three of its veterinary science universities ranked in the global top 50. In Europe, in addition to the four British universities ranked among the top 10, the United Kingdom has three others in the top 50, for a total of seven. Next come the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Germany, each with two ranked veterinary schools. The five other European countries represented (Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Norway, and Switzerland) each have one institution ranked among the top 50. Italy, which had two universities ranked last year, has dropped out of the rankings, and France is still not represented… Elsewhere in the world, the University of Sydney ranks 11th; it is the highest-ranked of the four Australian institutions. New Zealand is also represented, with Massey University ranking 23rd. Brazil is the only Latin American country represented in the top 50 veterinary schools, with one institution ranked (47th). Finally, only one Asian veterinary school made the list: the University of Tokyo, which ranks 42nd in the top 50—a drop from last year’s 34th-place ranking. Seoul National University in South Korea, meanwhile, has dropped out of the rankings.

To measure the reputation and performance of a veterinary school or university, the QS Top Universities World Rankings are based on three components: academic reputation (extensive surveys of academics and faculty), graduate employability, and research impact (publications in the Scopus database).

Since 2013, another metric has also been included: the h-index. It measures both the productivity and the impact of the work published by a scientist or academic. It can also be applied to a group of scientists (a department, a university, a country) or to a scientific journal.  

2018 World Ranking of Universities and Veterinary Schools

1. University of California, Davis, United States (═ ranked 1st in 2015, 2016, and 2017)

2. Cornell University, United States (═ ranked 2nd in 2015, 2016, and 2017)

3. Royal Veterinary College, University of London, United Kingdom (═ ranked 3rd in 2015, 2016, and 2017)

4. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (═ ranked 8th in 2015, ranked 4th in 2016 and 2017)

5. University of Utrecht, Netherlands (▲ ranked 5th in 2015, 7th in 2016, 9th in 2017)

6. University of Pennsylvania, United States (▲ ranked 19th in 2015, 4th in 2016, and 7th in 2017)

7. University of Guelph, Canada (▼ Ranked 4th in 2015, 8th in 2016, 6th in 2017)

8. University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (═ ranked 9th in 2015, 11th in 2016, 8th in 2017)

9. University of Liverpool, United Kingdom (▼ranked 9th in 2015, 6th in 2016, 5th in 2017)

10. Texas A&M University, United States (═ ranked 6th in 2015, 14th in 2016, 10th in 2017)

11. Michigan State University, United States (▲ Ranked 21st in 2015, 15th in 2016, 12th in 2017)

12. University of Sydney, Australia (═ ranked 11th in 2015, 9th in 2016, 11th in 2017)

13. ageningen University, Netherlands (▲16th in 2015, 19th in 2016, 15th in 2017)

14. University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (▲7th in 2015, 16th in 2016, 17th in 2017)

15. University of Melbourne, Australia (═ Ranked 28th in 2015, 18th in 2016, 15th in 2017)

16. Ohio State University, United States (▲ranked 25th in 2015, ranked 22nd in 2016, ranked 18th in 2017)

17. University of Ghent, Belgium (▲ranked 27th in 2015, 20th in 2016, 20th in 2017)

18. Colorado State University, United States (▲13th in 2015 and 2016, 19th in 2017)

19. University of Copenhagen, Denmark (▼ranked 17th in 2015, 10th in 2016, 13th in 2017)

20. University of Bristol, United Kingdom (▲ranked 11th in 2015 and 2016, ranked 25th in 2017)

21. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden (▲ranked 43rd in 2015, 30th in 2016, 28th in 2017)

22. University of Minnesota, United States (▼13th in 2015, 28th in 2016, 14th in 2017)

23. Massey University, New Zealand (═ ranked 15th in 2015, 25th in 2016, 23rd in 2017)

24. University College Dublin, Ireland (▲ ranked 40th in 2015, 31st in 2016, 29th in 2017)

25. Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany (═ Ranked 25th in 2015, 23rd in 2016, 25th in 2017)

26. Free University of Berlin, Germany (▲ranked 44th in 2016, ranked 34th in 2017)

27. North Carolina State University, United States (▼ ranked 20th in 2015, 17th in 2016, 21st in 2017)

28. University of Bern and Zurich, Switzerland (▲6th in 2015, 25th in 2016, not ranked in 2017)

29. University of Nottingham, United Kingdom (═ ranked 45th in 2015, 35th in 2016, 29th in 2017)

30. University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States (▼ranked 24th in 2015, 27th in 2016, 22nd in 2017)

31. Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain (▲23rd in 2015, 21st in 2016, 33rd in 2017)

32. Purdue University, United States (▼ rank 30 in 2015, rank 32 in 2016, rank 24 in 2017)

33. Complutense University of Madrid, Spain (▲50th in 2015, 43rd in 2016, 39th in 2017)

34. University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria (▲33rd in 2015, 36th in 2016, 37th in 2017)

35. University of Florida, United States (▼ ranked 17th in 2015, 24th in 2016, 31st in 2017)

36. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States (▼ ranked 43rd in 2015, 33rd in 2016, 27th in 2017)

37. University of Georgia, United States (▲ranked 31st in 2015, ranked 40th in 2016, ranked 43rd in 2017)

38. Murdoch University, Australia (▲ ranked 38th in 2015, 37th in 2016, 41st in 2017)

39. University of Queensland, Australia (▼ ranked 22nd in 2015, 29th in 2016, 32nd in 2017)

40. Iowa State University, United States (▼ ranked 35th in 2015, 41st in 2016, 39th in 2017)

41. Washington State University, United States (▼ranked 37th in 2015, 39th in 2016, 34th in 2017)

42. University of Tokyo, Japan (▼ ranked 34th in 2017)

43. Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Norway (▲ ranked 39th in 2015, ranked 42nd in 2016, ranked 44th in 2017)

44. Tufts University, United States (▼ ranked 34th in 2015, ranked 41st in 2017)

45. University of Liège, Belgium (═ ranked 49th in 2016, ranked 45th in 2017)

46. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States (▲new entry)

47. University of São Paulo, Brazil (▼ ranked 36th in 2015, ranked 38th in 2016, ranked 38th in 2017)

48. University of Calgary, Canada (▲49th in 2017)

49. University of Milan, Italy (▲47th in 2016, not ranked in 2017)

50. University of Montreal, Canada (▼ranked 42nd in 2015, ranked 44th in 2016, ranked 48th in 2017)

Universities dropped from the rankings:

University of Missouri, Columbia (Mizzou), United States (▼ranked 29th in 2015, 34th in 2016, 46th in 2017)

Júlio de Mesquita Filho State University of São Paulo, Brazil (▼45th in 2015, 46th in 2016, 47th in 2017)

Seoul National University, South Korea (▼ ranked 41st in 2015, ranked 50th in 2017)

University of Bologna, Italy (▼ranked 48th in 2016, unranked in 2017)

University of Saskatchewan, Canada (▼47th in 2015, 50th in 2016, not ranked in 2017)