University of Bologna Ranking 2025

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Overall Rankings 2026-2027

Three of the four major global ranking bodies place Bologna inside the world top 150, with Collegedunia Study Abroad slotting it higher at #97 because of its weight on international outcomes for Indian applicants.

The 33-position gap between QS (#123) and Collegedunia (#97) signals that Indian student outcomes lift Bologna higher than its raw academic-reputation score does. The 100-plus position gap between QS and ARWU is the standard pattern for Italian publics, since ARWU weights Nobel laureates and Fields medals more than QS weights reputation surveys.

Key insight: The five-year band stability on ARWU (201-300 every year since 2021) plus the climb on THE (146 to 130 in one year) tells Indian applicants the research footprint is durable while the teaching-and-reputation signal is improving.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Rankings: Bottom Line for Indian Students

For an Indian applicant comparing Bologna against a home-country IIT, the headline gap is small in QS but the subject pattern is very different.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna QS World University Rankings 2027

Bologna has climbed 44 positions on the QS table in five years, the strongest sustained move by any Italian public university across the same window. QS, which ranks universities based on academic reputation, employer opinion and research citations, currently places it at #123 globally and 3rd in Italy after Politecnico di Milano and Sapienza.

The sharpest single-year jump came between QS 2024 and 2025, a 21-position climb, and the 2027 edition pushed another 15 places upward. The five-year average rank sits at #143, so the current 2027 figure beats the average by 20 positions, which is the kind of trajectory Indian student counsellors flag as a momentum signal rather than a one-off bump.

Trend signal: Bologna’s QS Academic Reputation sub-score is #73 in the world, which is 50 places stronger than its overall rank and explains why the headline number keeps moving up year after year.

Read More: Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Courses and Fees 2026 for Indian Students

Collegedunia Study Abroad Rankings of Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna

Collegedunia Study Abroad places Bologna at #97 out of 824 universities globally in its 2026 edition, and inside the top 15% of its Law category at #32 of 243. The 26-position lift Collegedunia gives Bologna over its QS rank reflects this body’s heavier weighting on Indian-student outcomes, English-taught course mix and admissions accessibility.

The Law-category placement is the more decision-useful number for any Indian applicant targeting a master’s in Italian or European law, since it benchmarks Bologna against 242 other law-degree-issuing universities rather than the full multi-discipline global pool. A top-15% Law placement combined with the QS Law rank of #40 globally is a rare two-body confirmation that the discipline is the university’s calling card for Indian applicants.

India-relevance: The #97 global Collegedunia rank sits 26 places higher than the QS rank (#123), driven by Bologna’s 68 English-taught programs and 73% acceptance rate, both of which tilt the index in favour of Indian applicants.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2026

Bologna has held the #1 spot in Italy on the THE World University Rankings for six consecutive editions, a position no other Italian university has matched in the same window. THE, which weights teaching, research environment and citations together, ranks Bologna #130 globally in 2026, up 16 places from #146 in 2025.

A 16-place jump in a single THE edition is unusual for a public Italian university and outpaces the QS movement in the same year by 11 positions. Read with the QS climb to #123, the dual-body lift removes the single-body-fluke concern Indian admissions counsellors usually raise when one ranking moves sharply.

Key insight: Bologna is the only Italian university simultaneously inside the global top 130 on both QS and THE, and the THE Italy-#1 streak is the badge most often quoted in Indian state-government scholarship application files.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna ARWU (Shanghai) Rankings 2025

Bologna sits in the 201-300 band on the Academic Ranking of World Universities for the fifth straight year, a flat line that signals research-output stability rather than stagnation. ARWU is the strictest of the four bodies for Italian universities because it weights Nobel and Fields medal alumni and faculty heavily, where Italian publics historically score thinner than US and UK peers.

The flat five-year band hides a stronger subject-level story, where ARWU lists Veterinary Sciences at #37 and Business Administration at #39 globally. For an Indian applicant, the band stability matters because it removes the rank-drop risk that can undercut the degree’s resale value at hiring time three to five years after graduation.

What it signals: ARWU’s stability plus its #37 Veterinary Sciences sub-rank reinforces the subject-led case for Bologna, particularly for any Indian applicant targeting research-heavy disciplines where a flat top-300 band is the bar large EU labs use for hiring postdocs.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Subject Rankings

Bologna features in 50 subjects on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, up from 47 a year earlier, and ranks #1 in Italy across 16 of them. The discipline mix is the key signal: Indian applicants picking the right subject can land in the global top 30 instead of the top 130.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Archaeology and Classics Ranking

Archaeology sits at #19 globally on QS Subjects 2026 and Classics & Ancient History at #28, both inside the world top 30. No Indian university appears in either subject’s global top 50, which makes Bologna the default European pick for an Indian applicant targeting an MA or PhD in either field.

India-relevance: The QS Archaeology subject pool covers 200 universities globally and Bologna’s #19 places it in the top 10% worldwide, a tighter percentile than its overall rank suggests.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Law Ranking

Law is ranked #40 on QS Subjects 2026 and #32 on THE Subject Rankings 2026, with Collegedunia Study Abroad placing the Law category at #32/243. The three-body convergence inside the global top 40 is the strongest cross-ranking signal Bologna posts in any discipline.

Trend signal: Three ranking bodies independently placing Law inside the top 40 removes the methodology-cherry-pick concern, and the consistency at this band is what counts when an Indian Bar Council Authorised Foreign Law Graduate application is reviewed.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Veterinary Science Ranking

Veterinary Science is ranked #43 on QS Subjects 2026 and #37 on ARWU Global Subject Rankings 2025. Bologna is the only Italian university in the global top 50 for Veterinary Science on both bodies, and India does not have a ranked entry in either pool.

What it signals: The 6-position gap between QS and ARWU rankings for Veterinary Science is the narrowest cross-body subject gap Bologna posts, which is what reviewers of MS-level applications in EU veterinary medicine look for.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Arts & Humanities Ranking

Arts & Humanities is ranked #49 on QS Subjects 2026 and #39 on THE Subject Rankings 2026. The broad discipline area outperforms the overall university rank by 74 places on QS and 91 places on THE, which is the widest positive gap in any broad-area metric.

Key insight: The 10-position narrower placement on THE (#39) versus QS (#49) suggests Bologna’s research environment in humanities is even stronger than its reputation survey shows, useful context for an applicant choosing between MA programs in Italy and the UK.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Engineering and Business Ranking

Engineering and Technology sits at #119 on QS Subjects 2026 and #251-300 on THE, while Business & Economics ranks #73 on QS and #76 on THE. Petroleum Engineering separately ranks at #24 globally on QS Subjects 2026, the highest engineering sub-rank Bologna posts.

India-relevance: The 132-place QS-vs-THE divergence in Engineering means Indian engineering applicants should read the QS-band #119 number as the more reliable signal, since QS uses employer surveys that match the Indian recruiter base better.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Regional and Impact Rankings

Bologna ranks inside the top 6% of European universities and inside the global top 50 on three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal sub-rankings tracked by Times Higher Education.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna QS Europe University Rankings

Bologna is ranked #59 across 958 European universities on QS Europe 2026 and 2nd in Italy. The regional placement is 64 positions stronger than the QS World rank when measured against the same denominator size, which is the gap an Indian applicant should weigh when comparing Italian and German publics in the same Europe-wide pool.

Key insight: QS Europe 2026 evaluated 958 universities, and Bologna’s #59 puts it in the top 6.2%, a tighter percentile than its QS World rank of #123 in a 1,500-university pool (top 8.2%).

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna THE Impact Rankings 2025

Bologna ranks in the 101-200 band overall on THE Impact Rankings 2025, with three SDG sub-rankings inside the global top 50.

The SDG 9 placement at #27 globally for Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure is 96 positions stronger than the overall THE World rank, signalling industry-linked research depth in engineering and manufacturing that matters for Indian applicants applying for funded PhD posts.

What it signals: Three SDG sub-rankings inside the top 50 (4, 9 and 16) point to a sustainability and policy research profile that is increasingly used as a tie-breaker by Indian state-government PhD scholarship panels.

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna Rankings: Indian Student Outlook

The Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna ranking for Indian students reads strongest at the subject level, where Archaeology, Classics, Law and Veterinary Science deliver placements no Indian institute matches globally.

Popular programs for Indian students at Bologna:

• MBA Business Administration: Anchored by QS Business & Economics #73 and THE Business & Economics #76.
• MS Automation Engineering: Sits within the QS Engineering & Technology #119 band and Petroleum Engineering #24 sub-rank.
• MA Economics: Backed by ARWU Business Administration #39 globally.
• MS Civil Engineering: Falls inside the QS Engineering #119 cluster, with the Italy-#1 THE badge anchoring brand recognition.
• BA Business and Economics: Routed through Bologna’s English-taught undergraduate tier, with QS Social Sciences & Management #73 as the underpinning.