Rotterdam’s Erasmus University has dropped out of the top 100 of the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Three Dutch universities made it into the top 100 of the table, published annually by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Utrecht was the highest ranked in 50th spot, followed by Groningen in 64th and Leiden in 83rd.

Erasmus University Rotterdam was in 68th place in 2019 and 80th last year, but this time missed the cut for the top 100 for the first year since 2017.

The university was one of five Dutch institutions in the 101-150 bracket, along with Radboud University Nijmegen, the University of Amsterdam, the VU in Amsterdam and Wageningen University & Research.

The ranking, first compiled in 2003, rates 1,800 universities globally on the basis of citations, publications in journals, academic awards their per capita academic performance. They are seen as an influential factor in attracting international students.

Pieter Duisenberg, chair of the universities’ association VSNU, told the Volkskrant: ‘It is very important for our position in terms of international expertise to be highly placed in these kinds of rankings.’