Higher education rankings and league tables are important instruments for universities when it comes to presenting themselves to the general public. Highly diverse in their methodologies, the message conveyed and the target audiences, rankings provide insights into various areas of performance as well as a good overview of the university and research landscape in general. Whether in the international arena, as is the case with the THE Rankings and or the CHE Rankings for the German-speaking world, the University of Passau regularly scores highly, highlighting the strong performance and high quality of the University's research, teaching and student experience.
The University has consistently been among the leading 30 percent of worldwide universities ever since it first participated in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking nine years ago.
In the THE Subject Rankings, too, the University of Passau has been remarkably successful: For instance, Passau's business, economics and information systems faculty is ranked among the top 201-250 departments.
CHE Ranking 2026: University of Passau achieves numerous top placements nationwide.
This year's cycle ranked Law, Business Administration, and Information Systems. Based on student evaluations, all three subject areas have placed in the top tier nationwide – and achieved top marks in many cases.
In Business Information Systems, the "General study situation" was rated particularly highly: with 4.7 stars (out of a maximum of 5), it achieved the highest score of all public universities in Germany. Furthermore, "Support during studies" was rated with 4.6 stars, making Passau's Information Systems programme the outright leader nationwide.
The Faculty of Law has – once again – been awarded a top score for "Support with exam preparation": with 4.6 stars, it ranks among the three best-rated public universities in Germany.
In its fifth participation in the GreenMetric Ranking, the University of Passau once again achieved a very strong result of 231st place out of 1,745 higher education institutions.
Its sustainability activities continue to place it among the top 15 percent worldwide.
Since 2020, the German publication manager magazin has been honouring "Germany's best universities for auditors" in a biennial ranking.
In the current 2026/27 ranking, the University of Passau has improved by two places to a strong 12th position, thus continuing to rank among Germany's best universities for future auditors.
The Faculty of Law at the University of Passau regularly achieves top rankings in national comparisons.
Top results in various Germany-wide rankings (LTO, BRF, CHE) are proof of the outstanding quality of Passau's legal education.
