Twenty two academic subjects at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa earned high marks in the 2025 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject, released on March 12.
Leading the way was linguistics, which earned a No. 11 ranking in the U.S. and No. 40 ranking in the world. Library and information management (No. 17 U.S., No. 51–100 world) and Earth and marine sciences (No. 20 U.S., No. 51–100 world) also placed within the top 100 in the world.
Eleven additional subjects placed in the world’s top 1% (within top 250 in the world out of more than 25,000 colleges and universities worldwide):
- Geophysics: No. 30 U.S., No. 101–150 world
- Geology: No. 31 U.S., No. 101–150 world
- Anthropology: No. 35 U.S., No. 101–170 world
- Agriculture and forestry: No. 34 U.S., No. 151–200 world
- English language and literature: No. 40 U.S., No. 151–200 world
- Philosophy: No. 42 U.S., No. 201–225 world
- Geography: No. 34 U.S., No. 201–250 world
- History: No. 42 U.S., No. 201–250 world
- Politics: No. 43 U.S., No. 201–250 world
- Physics and astronomy: No. 45 U.S., No. 201–250 world
- Communication and media studies: No. 57 U.S., No. 201–250 world
“These rankings reflect the outstanding scholarship and dedication of our faculty, staff and students,” UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno said. “They reaffirm our university’s reputation for excellence and innovation, not just in Hawaiʻi, but on a global scale. For the communities we serve and the students considering UH Mānoa, these rankings are a powerful endorsement of the exceptional education and opportunities we provide.”
UH Mānoa was ranked in four broad subject areas and 22 narrow subject areas. The QS World University Rankings by Subject are calculated using five criteria: academic reputation (survey responses from academics), employer reputation (survey responses from graduate employers worldwide), research citations per paper (citations data sourced from Elsevier Scopus), H-index (measures most cited papers and the number of citations) and international research network (reflects ability to diversify the geography of their international research network).
The 2025 edition of the rankings by global higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds analyzed the performance of more than 18,300 university programs, taken by students at more than 1,700 universities in 100 locations around the world.
Other rankings
UH Mānoa also received these notable rankings:
- UH Mānoa earns highest national research designation, February 20, 2025
- 2025 Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject, January 23, 2025
- U.S. News and World Report 2025 Best Colleges rankings, September 24, 2024
