BFU is now in the international higher education rankings

For the first time, higher education institutions from Eastern Bulgaria have entered one of the two authoritative international university rankings — the QS Europe Region Ranking. These institutions are Burgas Free University and Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar.” A total of nine Bulgarian universities appear in the new 2026 edition, an increase from the previous six.

In the European ranking, the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom traditionally holds the top position, followed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and Imperial College London. Among Bulgarian universities, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” ranks the highest — 313th place, marking a slight decline from 267th in 2025. Burgas Free University makes its debut at position 901.

In the ranking focused solely on universities in Eastern Europe, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, holds the top spot, while BSU is ranked 162nd. To a large extent, BSU’s inclusion in the ranking is due to optimal ratios in several areas: the increased number of international and exchange students across various programs, a favorable student-to-faculty ratio, the publication activity of its academic staff, the university’s reputation (as indicated by recognition from other ranked institutions), and more. An interesting detail is that the QS World University Rankings algorithm identifies BSU as “similar” to the University of Porto in Portugal and AlMaarefa University in Saudi Arabia.