Browse the THE Latin America University Rankings 2020 results
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile has topped Times Higher Education’s latest ranking for the Latin American region, while a Jamaican institution features in the top 20 for the first time.
The Chilean university holds on to the top spot in the THE Latin America University Rankings for the second consecutive year thanks to strong scores across the board, but particularly in the areas of knowledge transfer and research environment. Brazil’s University of São Paulo and University of Campinas also remain in second and third place respectively.
Meanwhile, Mexico and Jamaica achieve their highest ever ranking in the table, which includes institutions in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Mexico’s Monterrey Institute of Technology claims fourth place, up from fifth, after improving on teaching environment metrics, while Jamaica’s sole representative, the University of the West Indies, rises 14 places to 18th, mainly as a result of higher scores for teaching and research environment.
However, many of Mexico’s other institutions decline this year, after receiving lower scores for teaching and research. Elsewhere, Colombia falls out of the top 10 after the country’s top representative – the University of the Andes, Colombia – dropped two places to 11th following a drop in its citations score.
Brazil is once again the most represented nation in the table, with 61 institutions, followed by Chile with 30 and Colombia with 23.
The top new entry in the table is Brazil’s Federal University of Uberlândia, which debuts at 55th place.
Overall, 166 universities across 13 countries feature in the ranking, up from 150 institutions across 12 nations last year. Uruguay is the only new country to feature this year, with ORT Uruguay University debuting in the 101-125 band.
The THE Latin America University Rankings is based on the same 13 performance indicators that underpin the THE World University Rankings, but the weightings have been recalibrated to reflect the characteristics of Latin America’s universities.
THE Latin America University Rankings 2020: top 10
| 2020 rank | 2019 rank | Institution | Country |
| 1 | 1 | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile | Chile |
| 2 | 2 | University of São Paulo | Brazil |
| 3 | 3 | University of Campinas | Brazil |
| 4 | 5 | Monterrey Institute of Technology | Mexico |
| =5 | 8 | Federal University of Minas Gerais | Brazil |
| =5 | 6 | Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) | Brazil |
| 7 | 4 | Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) | Brazil |
| 8 | 7 | University of Chile | Chile |
| 9 | 12 | Federal University of Santa Catarina | Brazil |
| 10 | 10 | São Paulo State University (UNESP) | Brazil |
