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Top universities with the best student-to-staff ratio 2023

Data from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings reveal the top universities with the best student-to-staff ratios

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February 15 2023
Top universities for best student to staff ratio

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Top 10 universities with the best student-to-staff ratio 2023

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Student-to-staff ratio rank 2023 Student-to-staff ratio rank 2022 University Country/region Number of students to one member of staff
=1 =1 Jikei University School of Medicine Japan 0.9
=1 =1 St Marianna University School of Medicine Japan 0.9
=1 =1 Nippon Medical School Japan 0.9
4 4 Oregon Health and Science University United States 1
5 6 Dokkyo Medical University Japan 1.2
6 5 Kansai Medical University Japan 1.3
7 7 Saitama Medical University Japan 1.4
8 9 Showa University Japan 1.6
=9 NR Guangzhou Medical University China 1.7
=9 8 Tokyo Medical University Japan 1.7

A lower student-to-staff ratio can make it easier for students to cultivate close relationships with their lecturers, receive prompt feedback on essays and assignments, and get involved in more interactive seminars and discussions.

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Times Higher Education has created this table of universities with the best student-to-staff ratios in the world to help students work out which institutions might be best placed to provide this kind of learning environment.

The list has been compiled using data from the latest THE World University Rankings. As part of the rankings, THE collects information on the number of staff and students at each university, and from this we can calculate the student-to-staff ratio. The full methodology of the World University Rankings can be found here. The table below shows the number of students per member of staff for each university.

All the top 10 universities are specialist medical institutions. Because these universities combine practical experience alongside theoretical learning, it may be that they require more staff to support this teaching structure.

It is also the case that many specialist universities have smaller student bodies, with higher numbers of teaching staff. However, some institutions on this list – such as Duke University – have large student populations (more than 12,000 each), so this isn’t always the case.

Japan dominates the list, with 33 universities featured. The US comes second with 25 universities. The rest of the top 100 features universities from France, South Korea, India and China. There is only one university based in the UK featured in the top 100.

The top five universities with the best student-to-staff ratio

5. Dokkyo Medical University

Dokkyo Medical University is a private university in Mibu, Tochigi, Japan, established in 1973.

The university offers two undergraduate programmes, in medicine and nursing, and postgraduate programmes in nursing, medicine and midwifery. 

Three hospitals are affiliated with the university: Dokkyo University Hospital, Saitama Medical Center (formerly Koshigaya Hospital) and Nikko Medical Center.

4. Oregon Health and Science University

Oregon Health and Science University is a public university with a main campus and two hospitals in Portland, Oregon, US. It was founded in 1887.

The institution offers degree programmes in dentistry, medicine and nursing. It is a functioning hospital, simultaneously treating patients, training healthcare professionals and conducting important healthcare research.

Oregon Health and Science University is also one of the largest employers in the state, and has launched many community programmes to improve the health of Oregon’s residents.

The university’s Knight Cancer Institute has been a pioneer in medicine through a discovery that identified how to shut down cells that enable cancer to grow without harming healthy ones. Scientists from its Brain Institute are also nationally recognised for discoveries that have led to a better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease.

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=1. Nippon Medical School

Nippon Medical School is a private medical school in Tokyo. It is Japan’s oldest private medical university, having been founded in 1876.

The university has two campuses. Musashisakai is about 40 minutes west of the city centre and is where first-year undergraduates take courses in basic sciences and liberal arts.

From second year to sixth year, medical training takes place at the Sendagi campus, which is closer to central Tokyo and near the university hospital. Sendagi is also home to the university’s graduate school and its International Exchange Centre.

=1. St Marianna University School of Medicine

Founded in 1971, St Marianna University School of Medicine is Japan’s only medical university with a Christian ethos, as it is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

In addition to medical studies, the institution offers a degree in comparative religious studies.

The curriculum consists of initial practical training in the first three years and clinical clerkship in the latter three years.

The university is the first in Asia to be approved as a medical centre for Fifa, as the medical provider for Japan’s national football side.

=1. Jikei University School of Medicine

Jikei University School of Medicine is a private university in Minato, Tokyo. The word “jikei” means “mercy and love” in Japanese.

With 2,700 beds and 7,500 outpatients a day, Jikei University Hospital is considered one of the country’s largest educational hospital systems. The university also has international exchange programmes with University of Leeds.

Jikei has four university hospitals – Katsushika Medical Center, Daisan Hospital in Chofu Komae, the Kashiwa Hospital in Chiba and the Jikei University School of Medicine Triton Clinic in Harumi.

The top 100 universities with the best student-to-staff ratio 2023

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2023 profile

Staff to student ratio rank 2023 Staff to student rank ratio 2022 University Country/region Number of students to one member of staff
=1 =1 Jikei University School of Medicine Japan 0.9
=1 =1 St Marianna University School of Medicine Japan 0.9
=1 =1 Nippon Medical School Japan 0.9
4 4 Oregon Health and Science University United States 1
5 6 Dokkyo Medical University Japan 1.2
6 5 Kansai Medical University Japan 1.3
7 7 Saitama Medical University Japan 1.4
8 9 Showa University Japan 1.6
=9 NR Guangzhou Medical University China 1.7
=9 8 Tokyo Medical University Japan 1.7
11 10 University of Nebraska Medical Center United States 2
12 =12 Rush University United States 2.1
=13 =12 Kanazawa Medical University Japan 2.2
=13 11 Hyogo College of Medicine Japan 2.2
15 14 University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan Japan 2.5
16 =15 Aichi Medical University Japan 2.9
17 18 Shiga University of Medical Science Japan 3.1
18 =19 Sapporo Medical University Japan 3.2
=19 23 Kerman University of Medical Sciences Iran 3.4
=19 22 Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan 3.4
=21 =19 Fujita Health University Japan 3.8
=21 25 University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus United States 3.8
=21 17 Vanderbilt University United States 3.8
24 26 Wake Forest University United States 4
=25 =32 Emory University United States 4.2
=25 =27 Duke University United States 4.2
=25 =27 University of Copenhagen Denmark 4.2
28 =29 Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) Japan 4.4
29 34 Columbia University United States 4.5
=30 24 Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Japan 4.6
=30 =29 Juntendo University Japan 4.6
=30 35 University of Leoben Austria 4.6
=30 =32 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Sweden 4.6
34 =29 Johns Hopkins University United States 4.7
35 =36 Capital Medical University China 4.9
36 38 Kitasato University Japan 5.2
37 40 SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College) United Kingdom 5.3
=38 39 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States 5.5
=38 NR Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Japan 5.5
40 NR Medical University of Gdańsk Poland 5.6
41 =36 Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Kazakhstan 5.7
=43 =41 Yale University United States 5.9
=45 =44 The University of Chicago United States 6
=45 =41 Yokohama City University Japan 6
=45 NR Poznan University of Medical Sciences Poland 6
=48 =44 University of Yamanashi Japan 6.1
=48 =41 Acıbadem University Turkey 6.1
50 47 California Institute of Technology United States 6.2
=51 =48 University of Pennsylvania United States 6.3
54 =48 Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iran 6.4
=55 NR University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland Switzerland 6.5
=55 46 Sofia University Bulgaria 6.5
57 NR El Bosque University Colombia 6.6
=58 =56 Nagasaki University Japan 6.7
=58 =59 Institut Polytechnique de Paris France 6.7
=58 =83 IPB University Indonesia 6.7
=58 NR Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia Peru 6.7
=62 =64 Hellenic Open University Greece 6.8
=62 NR Dow University of Health Sciences Pakistan 6.8
=65 NR University of Science and Technology of Oran Mohamed-Boudiaf Algeria 6.9
=65 =48 University of Technology, Iraq Iraq 6.9
=65 55 Technical University of Denmark Denmark 6.9
=68 NR Mustansiriyah University Iraq 7.1
=68 =70 The Catholic University of Korea South Korea 7.1
=68 =68 Stanford University United States 7.1
71 =89 University of Alaska Fairbanks United States 7.2
=72 =64 Saint Louis University United States 7.4
=72 NR Arak University of Medical Sciences Iran 7.4
=72 =59 Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences India 7.4
=75 =70 Nagoya City University Japan 7.5
=75 =70 University of Miyazaki Japan 7.5
=75 =98 Tulane University United States 7.5
=75 =77 Gifu University Japan 7.5
=79 NR Kurume University Japan 7.6
=79 63 Norwegian University of Life Sciences Norway 7.6
=79 NR Medical University of Silesia in Katowice Poland 7.6
=79 =59 Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Italy 7.6
=79 =89 Niigata University Japan 7.6
=84 =80 Gunma University Japan 7.7
=84 =56 University of Rochester United States 7.7
=84 =77 Shimane University Japan 7.7
=84 NR IMT Atlantique France 7.7
=84 NR Universitas Airlangga Indonesia 7.7
=89 =95 Washington University in St Louis United States 7.8
=89 =83 Kyushu University Japan 7.8
=89 =89 King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia 7.8
=89 =80 Dartmouth College United States 7.8
=89 =64 Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Peru 7.8
=94 =98 National Technical University Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute Ukraine 7.9
=94 NR Universidad Autónoma Chapingo Mexico 7.9
=94 NR University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States 7.9
=94 NR Acharya Nagarjuna University India 7.9
=94 =83 Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca Romania 7.9
=100 =95 University of Fukui Japan 8
=100 =77 Princeton University United States 8
=100 NR University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague Czech Republic 8
=100 =98 National Technical University of Ukraine – Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Ukraine 8
=100 NR Georgetown University United States 8
=100 NR Icesi University Colombia 8

Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian and Belarusian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian and Belarusian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

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