The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica W.I. Tuesday, July 26, 2022—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) continues its trajectory among the top universities internationally.  In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic’s challenges upon management operations and financial outlook, The UWI continues to prove its academic excellence and global competitiveness by consolidating its position among the best ranked institutions. This much was confirmed by a recent report from Times Higher Education (THE), the most prestigious university ranking system.

The Latin America Universities Rankings 2022 table published on July 14 by THE shows The UWI consolidating its leading position among the best. It remains the #1 ranked Caribbean university and has maintained its excellent position within the top 1% of Latin America’s finest.

In 2018, The UWI debuted in THE’s Latin America University Rankings category; then, 177 universities were ranked having met eligibility criteria from a recognised field of near 2,000. The UWI’s inaugural ranked position was #37. In 2022, The UWI consolidated its elite position at #21 although the number of universities ranked by THE has since increased to 197. The number of officially recognised higher education institutions in Latin America remains estimated at over 1,800.

This excellent performance by The UWI illustrates the continued rise of its international recognition and reputation—a core objective pursued by management in the academy’s five-year Strategic Plan for 2017-2022.

Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, commenting on the latest Times Higher Education report stated, “The people of the Caribbean are deserving of a first-class, respected university and this is precisely what we are committed to achieving and sustaining. We are intellectually focused, strategic in our choices and actions, and not distracted in any way. These excellent results are the outcomes of the sustained, smart work of our academics and administrators, students and service providers.”

In THE’s assessment methodology there are five performance areas: Teaching, Research, International Outlook, Industry Income and Research Citations. The UWI scored its most spectacular outcome in the area of Citations of its research publications. In this key area, also identified as research influence, it is ranked #3 out of the 197 best universities, surpassing 18 of the universities ahead of it in final rankings.

“This extraordinary result is a tribute to The UWI’s scholars”, the Vice-Chancellor noted, “…and reflects the very healthy state of intellectualism within the University, and the commitment to publishing globally respected and relevant research.”