Three make top 100 colleges worldwide

Three Irish universities are ranked among the top 100 new colleges worldwide in the Times Higher Education rankings.

NUI Maynooth (ranked 64th) is the leading Irish university on the list followed by Dublin City University (86th) and the University of Limerick (97th). The new rankings come after rival QS rankings this week. The figures are a boost for the Irish third level sector which has been attempting to accommodate record student numbers with much reduced resources. The rankings also show how the newer colleges are punching above their weight, compared to much better-funded international rivals.

The Times Higher list tracks the performance of universities which are less than 50 years old. With three universities on the list, Ireland performs creditably – and better than the likes of Korea, Finland, Switzerland and Denmark which are less well represented. The performance of NUI Maynooth is particularly striking and represents a huge boost for the new college president, Dr Philip Nolan.