You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
For the fifth consecutive year, Arizona State University’s main campus in Tempe is the top-ranked U.S. institution in Times Higher Education’s (THE’s) Impact Rankings 2024. The institution appears in the 9th position in the overall table of the rankings, which assess universities on metrics across all 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Florida International University is the next highest ranked U.S. institution, jumping from 100th in 2023 to 13th in this year’s overall table, tying with the University of Auckland, the University of Technology Sydney, and the University of Victoria in Canada.
Despite falling from 6th place to 9th in the overall table, ASU is the highest ranked U.S. institution in 11 of the 17 SDGs, appearing first in SDG 14—life below water, second in SDG 11—sustainable cities and communities, and tied for third in SDG 15—life on land.
Nancy Gonzales, Arizona State’s executive vice president and university provost, said, “This updated ranking speaks to ASU’s unique ability to equip our large network of students with the skills needed in subjects like sustainability thinking, so that they can not only understand the challenges of our time, but feel informed and empowered to make an impact in their respective communities and future careers.”
The Arizona institution is very much an outlier among its peers, however. This year just four universities from the U.S. appear in the top 100 over all, compared with seven last year. Michigan State University rose from tied for 26th in 2023 to 25th, while Penn State fell from 40th last year to 51st.
Iowa State University, Oklahoma State University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which were top 100 institutions last year, have dropped into the 100–200 band.
Western Sydney University in Australia topped the overall table again this year, followed by the University of Manchester and the University of Tasmania in joint second.
THE (Inside Higher Ed’s parent company) assessed 2,152 universities from 125 countries and regions in the 2024 rankings. Fifty-eight were from the U.S., two more than last year.
Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, noted the strong performance from some U.S. universities in key areas of sustainability, but hopes more U.S. universities participate next year.
“Given the breadth, depth and resources of higher education in the country, and their global leadership in university research, we expected to see more American institutions come forward and demonstrate their commitment to supporting a sustainable future for all, and in addition, doing better in the ranking,” he said.
