Rating universities on social responsibility: QS Stars

The QS Stars university rating system assesses a university’s social responsibility by measuring how seriously it takes its obligations to society by investing in the local community and environmental projects.

There are countless intangible ways in which a university benefits the society beyond its walls, as well as the society within them.

However, a good university will also seek to benefit it more directly. Particularly in developing nations, this role is often central to a university’s mission. This is measured using four criteria:

Funds for community investment and charity work

A good university will take its social responsibility very seriously and will aim to directly improve the area in which it is based. Universities will be awarded if they invest 1% of their turnover, or USD $2 million, in community projects within a year. This includes funds donated by the institution, as well as money donated and raised by students and faculty.

Volunteer hours for community investment and charity work

In many ways, an interest in supporting charities and disaster relief campaigns is similar to an institution’s investment in community. Support and awareness of external issues is a great way to get students and faculties involved in their global environment and offers a chance for institutions to contribute their time for the benefit of society. We are interested in total number of hours a university’s students and faculty members spent in a 12-month period volunteering in the community or doing charity work.

Human capital development

Human capital development can mean one of two things. One looks at the proportion of graduates employed within the region, while the other looks at the proportion of students who are from the region.

Environmental policies

The importance of impacting positively on the environment is greater than ever before, particularly within educational institutions focused on developing the next generation of leaders and industry experts. To be awarded full points for environmental policies, universities must offer each of the following: a sustainability webpage, an energy conservation programme, a water conservation programme, a recycling programme and a transportation policy.

QS Stars does the evaluating for you, so you can easily see where a university’s strengths are in order to find a programme that suits your priorities. Take a look at which universities have achieved a high QS Stars rating for their approach to social responsibility.

See which universities have been rated highly for social responsibility