Rankings and league tables

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.

In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the University of Passau was among the top 20 percent worldwide both in 2019 and 2020.

Among the 'Young Universities', the University of Passau ranks 16th worldwide and second among German universities.

CHE Ranking 2020/21: The University of Passau achieves numerous top rankings in competition with German universities.

The Faculty of Law received particularly outstanding evaluations from students and is placed in the leading group in 13 out of 14 categories.

The U-Multirank results show that the University is exceptionally well-positioned in terms of internationalisation.

The DAAD'sFörderbilanz funding tables show that the University of Passau comes in at an excellent second place among all German universities in the category 'Individual support'.

Ranking results by subject

CHE Rankings (05/2017): Passau’s Law programme achieved a Germany-wide top score in the categories 'Overall study situation' and 'Teacher support'.

CHE Ranking (ZEIT-Studienführer 05/2014): In the ranking for the newspaper ‘Die Zeit’, the undergraduate law programme of the University of Passau achieved a Germany-wide top score in the categories 'Overall study situation', 'Study organisation' and 'Teacher support'. Passau's Business Administration programmes were in the leading group for the category 'Graduations within the standard period of study', while Passau's Economics programme was in the lading group for 'International orientation'.

CHE Ranking (ZEIT-Studienführer 2011/12): Top place for Passau’s Law programme in the categories 'Overall study situation', 'Tutoring' and 'Revision courses': Only the private-sector Bucerius Law School achieved a better score; Passau came first among all state-run universities.

Wirtschaftswoche magazine (19 April 2011): In the Germany-wide university ranking, recruiters placed the University of Passau at number 7.

Results of the First State Examination for Jurists in the individual examination locations

2017

Place of examination	Fail rate (%)	Students achieving grades considered exceptionally high (%):
Augsburg	29.68	37.47
Bayreuth	23.72	48.18
Erlangen-Nuremberg	23.75	42.15
Munich	27.25	42.70
Passau	21.88	47.33
Regensburg	38.21	28.46
Würzburg	35.80	32.67

2016

Place of examination	Fail rate (%)	Students achieving grades considered exceptionally high (%):
Augsburg	30.45	41.26
Bayreuth	26.02	47.15
Erlangen-Nuremberg	28.17	42.25
Munich	27.47	41.32
Passau	23.44	50.26
Regensburg	39.36	36.93
Würzburg	32.55	39.58

2015

Place of examination	Fail rate (%)	Students achieving grades considered exceptionally high (%):
Augsburg	37.06	35.31
Bayreuth	35.66	38.93
Erlangen-Nuremberg	30.71	39.00
Munich	41.41	33.20
Passau	27.03	41.89
Regensburg	30.72	36.45
Würzburg	39.44	37.27

Source: Reports of the Bavarian State Judicial Examination Office for the years 2015–17, p. 6
https://www.justiz.bayern.de/landesjustizpruefungsamt/jahresberichte/
Summary Section I/2, in May 2018

CHE Rankings (05/2017): Passau's information systems students showed themselves very pleased with the overall study situation. Business administration was in the leading group in the categories 'Graduation within a reasonable time' and 'Courses offered'.

CHE Ranking (12/2014): Passau's M.A. International Economics and Business reached top position in the rankings of business and economics master's programmes in the German-speaking world.

CHE Ranking (05/2014): In the ranking for the newspaper ‘Die Zeit’, Passau’s Law programme achieved a Germany-wide top score in the categories 'Overall study situation', 'Study organisation' and 'Teacher support'. Passau's business administration programmes were in the leading group for the category 'Graduations within the standard period of study', while Passau's economics programme was in the leading group for 'International orientation'.

CHE Ranking (12/2011): Rankings for 'Die Zeit' were extended to include master's degree programmes in business administration. The M.A. Business Administration of the University of Passau is among the best of the 42 assessed departments in the German-speaking world. The degree programme received excellent marks for 'Teacher Support' and 'Transition to master’s studies'.

CHE Ranking (ZEIT-Studienführer 2011/12): Business Administration and Economics were in the leading group for the category 'Overall study situation' among German universities. The department attained average results for 'Study organisation' and 'International orientation'.

Wirtschaftswoche magazine (19 April 2011): In the Germany-wide university ranking, recruiters placed the University of Passau at number 12 and 19 for business administration and economics respectively.

CHE rankings (11/2015): Passau's M.Sc. Computer Science was found to be among Germany's best degree programmes in the field, based on a survey among master's students conducted by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE). The basis for the evaluation was a survey among master's students.

CHE Ranking (05/2015): Computer science students at Passau complete their studies relatively quickly; this has led to the faculty being placed in the leading group for 'Graduation within reasonable time' among computer science faculties in the German-speaking world. This result shows that Passau's system of study organisation and mentoring is working well. What confirmed this further was the overall good result of the faculty in a student survey: The faculty received particularly good marks in the categories 'Study organisation', 'Tutoring', 'Contact with other students' and 'Rooms and IT facilities'.

CHE Ranking 04/2012: Passau's computer science department was once again number one in the ranking for the newspaper 'Die Zeit'. The strength of research output and excellent conditions of study scored particularly highly. This once again put the University of Passau squarely in the leading group of the 63 German, Austrian and Swiss university departments evaluated. Passau's computer science faculty was among the best in terms of research funding as well as in the categories 'Overall study situation', 'Tutoring' and 'IT infrastructure'.

The world rankings of the 10,000 most-cited computer scientists lists only 200 Germans – but three of them are from the University of Passau.

CHE Rankings (05/2015): Passau’s political science department was rated 'excellent' by students in the category 'Courses offered', placing the department among the leading group in the German-speaking world. The interdisciplinary concept of the bachelor's and master's programmes in Governance and Public Policy, which includes modules on public law, is unique in Germany. Moreover, the master's programme was one of only eight German degree programmes chosen for the Public Policy and Good Governance funding programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

CHE Ranking (ZEIT-Studienführer 2011/12): Political science attained a leading position for 'Overall study situation'. The department attained average results for 'Study organisation' and 'International orientation'.

CHE Rankings (ZEIT-Studienführer 2011/12): Communication studies garnered a leading place for the categories 'Overall study situation', 'Study organisation' and 'Job market preparation'. The department achieved average results for 'International orientation'. Having ranked in the bottom group in the previous rankings in 2008, the programme rose to become one of the best master's programmes in Germany in these latest rankings. Only the private-sector University of Friedrichshafen achieved an equally good result in Germany.

CHE Ranking (05/2013): The ranking for the newspaper 'Die Zeit' found both romance studies and English studies to be leaders in the categories 'International orientation' and 'Graduations within standard period of study'. This highlights the appeal of interdisciplinary study offers with a choice of specialisation in English or Romance Studies, as offered by the M.A. European Studies, M.A. International Cultural and Business Studies and M.A. Language and Text Sciences programmes.

CHE ranking (ZEIT-Studienführer 2010/11): Romance Studies scored highly for 'Acquired research funds', while English Studies was found to offer an excellent 'Overall study situation'. Passau achieved average results in practically all other assessed areas.