Lincoln University maintains top-450 position in global rankings

The highly competitive QS World University Ranking system benchmarks global academic excellence by evaluating each institution’s performance across a weighted index of nine performance indicators. For its 2026 World University Rankings, the QS system evaluated its highest-ever total of 8,467 participating universities, a huge increase on its previous high of 2,804 universities in 2025.

Lincoln University’s overall ranking of 407 is underpinned by strong performance across all nine indicators, with particularly notable growth in the critical reputation indicators – Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation.

Academic Reputation reflects the perceptions of global academics on an institution’s academic excellence, and Employer Reputation evaluates the perceptions of global employers on which institutions are providing the most job-ready graduates.

Lincoln achieved its highest ranking of 53rd in the International Students indicator, which measures the proportion of students who are international and reveals how internationally attractive the institution is, as well as the on-campus diversity that those students will experience.

The University ranked 55th in the world in the International Faculty indicator, which measures the proportion of faculty members who are international and thus how internationally attractive the institution is to academic staff.

The University also ranked highly, at 264, in the Citations per Faculty indicator, which measures the average number of citations obtained per faculty member and is an estimate of the impact and quality of the scientific work produced by the institution.

All eight of New Zealand’s universities were ranked in the 2026 QS World University Rankings, and of those eight Lincoln ranked overall second for faculty student ratio, international faculty, international students and internal student diversity.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Edwards said Lincoln University’s ranking for 2026 is encouraging and reflects the University’s specialist focus on delivering impactful education and research for the land-based sectors in New Zealand and worldwide.

“It is especially pleasing to see our International Faculty ranking increase to 55th from 61st in 2025, even with such a significant jump in the number of global universities participating in the QS rankings system, as this spotlights our international academic excellence and global appeal.

“Our International Students ranking of 53rd is also very encouraging, as the University has worked hard to successfully create a campus experience for students and staff that is welcoming, supportive, inspiring and above all diverse.

“We are very proud to attract a large cohort of international students to Lincoln University, as they add considerable value to our research programmes and contribute significantly to the vibrancy and diversity of our campus life.

“Our high score for Citations per Faculty is also very important to the University, as it illustrates our global reputation for producing quality research that delivers demonstrable real-world impact across the land-based sectors.”

For further information, contact media@lincoln.ac.nz.

A full methodological breakdown for the World University Rankings can be found here.