Top Universities for Accounting & Finance in 2015

Discover the top accounting and finance schools based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

While you don’t have to study both together, the studies of accounting and finance do frequently go hand in hand, particularly at undergraduate level. But which schools have the strongest reputations in this field?

In the recently released QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015 you’ll find a ranking of the world’s top 200 universities and business schools in the field of accounting and finance programs, based on a methodology which considers employer and academic reputation alongside research impact.

See below for an overview of top universities for accounting and finance in each world region, or for the full interactive ranking table, click here.

Top 10 Universities for Accounting & Finance in the World Based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015
Rank	Name of Institution	Location
1	Harvard University	United States
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	United States
3=	Stanford University	United States
3=	University of Oxford	United Kingdom
5	London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	United Kingdom
6	University of Chicago	United States
7	University of Pennsylvania	United States
8	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom
9	London Business School	United Kingdom
10	New York University (NYU)	United States
See the full accounting & finance ranking >

 

Top universities for accounting & finance in the US & Canada

Of the 13 top universities for accounting and finance claimed by Canada, three are among the world’s top 50, including the University of Toronto (20^th in the QS World University Rankings 2014/15), the University of British Colombia (43^rd in the world rankings) and McGill University (21^st in the world rankings).

South of the border, the US is home to around a quarter of the world’s top 200 universities in this field, with 53 representatives in the ranking. As well as six entrants in the top 10 (see above), also within the world’s top 50 are the University of California, Berkeley (27^th in the world rankings), Yale University (10^th in the world rankings), Columbia University (14^th in the world rankings), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, 37^th in the world rankings), the University of Michigan (23^rd in the world rankings), Princeton University (9^th in the world rankings), Northwestern University (34^th in the world rankings), the University of Texas at Austin (79^th in the world rankings), Duke University (25^th in the world rankings), Cornell University (19^th in the world rankings) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (63^rd in the world rankings).

Top universities for accounting & finance in Europe

The UK claims 28 of the world’s top schools for accounting and finance, four of which have already been mentioned in the top 10 table above. Also in the top 50 worldwide are the University of Manchester (30^th in the world rankings), the University of Warwick (61^st in the world rankings), the University of Edinburgh (17^th in the world rankings) and Imperial College London (joint 2^nd in the world rankings).

Outside of the UK, Europe is home to a further 44 top institutions in this field, including seven in Spain, six in Germany and six also in the Netherlands. Only one school in these countries claims a top 50 position, and this is the Dutch Erasmus University Rotterdam (90^th in the world rankings).

Each with five top schools for accounting and finance are Switzerland and France. Of these, French specialist institutions INSEAD and HEC Paris fare the best, in 21^st and 31^st positions respectively. ETH Zurich meanwhile is the best in Switzerland within this field, ranked within the top 100 for accounting and finance (12^th in the world rankings). In Italy there are four schools in the running, including Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi at joint 28^th.

In the Nordic countries, a total of six leading accounting and finance schools are found – three in Sweden, two in Denmark and one in Finland. Of these, the Danish business school Copenhagen Business School takes the lead at 40^th for accounting and finance, while Sweden’s specialist Stockholm School of Economics comes 49^th.

Next up is Ireland with two offerings within the world’s top 200, while Austria, Belgium, Greece and Portugal all have one top accounting and finance school. Of these, Austria’s specialist Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), is the leader, within the 51-100 range.

Top universities for accounting & finance in Australia & New Zealand

The University of Auckland (92^nd in the world rankings) is the highest ranked of New Zealand’s seven featured institutions in the accounting and finance ranking. It’s joined within the top 100 by Massey University (346^th in the world rankings), the University of Canterbury (242^nd in the world rankings) and Victoria University of Wellington (275^th in the world rankings).

Over in Australia, the Aussies beat the Kiwis by 10, claiming a total of 17 representatives in the ranking. This includes six Australian universities within the world’s top 50, and four more within the top 100. The highest ranked of these schools are the University of New South Wales (48^th in the world rankings), the University of Melbourne (33^rd in the world rankings), the University of Sydney (37^th in the world rankings), Australian National University (ANU, 25th in the world), the University of Queensland (43^rd in the world rankings), and Monash University (70^th in the world rankings).

Top universities for accounting & finance in Asia

Giving the western world a run for its money, Asia offers 33 top schools for accounting and finance. South Korea boasts seven institutions in the ranking; five of these are among the world’s top 100, with the highest ranked being Seoul National University (SNU, 31^st in the world rankings) at 43^rd for accounting and finance.

China also has four schools featured in the world’s top 100 and two more in the ranking overall. These include Peking University (57^th in the world rankings) in joint 38^th and Fudan University (71^st in the world rankings) ranked 51-100.

While Hong Kong and Japan both offer five entries in the accounting and finance ranking, it Hong Kong leads with three representatives among the world’s top 50. These are Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST, 40^th in the world rankings), the University of Hong Kong (HKU, 28^th in the world rankings) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, 46^th in the world rankings). In Japan, the University of Tokyo (31^st in the world rankings) also excels in 44^th for accounting and finance.

Elsewhere in Asia, Malaysia offers four top schools for accounting and finance, Singapore three, Taiwan two and Thailand one. Singapore is most notable among these, with all three of its entrants ranked within the top 50 worldwide for accounting and finance. These are the National University of Singapore (NUS, 22^nd in the world rankings), Nanyang Technological University (NTU, 39^th in the world rankings) and Singapore Management University. National Taiwan University (NTU) is also within the top 100.

Top universities for accounting & finance in Latin America

Four top universities for accounting and finance are found in Latin America, across three different countries. Mexico offers two schools within the world’s top 200 for accounting and finance: Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM, 253^rd in the world rankings) and Instituto Tecnológico Autonomo de México (ITAM, 651-700 in the world rankings). Brazil’s Universidade de São Paulo (USP) is in the top 100 (132^nd in the world rankings), while Chile’s Universidad de Chile appears in the top 150 (220^th in the world rankings).

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Not sure whether to study accounting or finance? See how the two subjects measure up with our recent comparison article.

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