QS’ response to the invasion of Ukraine
Message from our CEO and Founder, Nunzio Quacquarelli
At QS, we are united in outrage at the war Russia is waging against the Ukrainian people. We believe in the power of international education to promote understanding and collaboration, yet we have seen images of university campuses indiscriminately attacked, and our partners, colleagues and friends displaced in this humanitarian catastrophe.
In response to the crisis:
We are supporting Ukrainian and international students and applicants affected through our counselling and mobility tracking services and signposting verified guidance, including through TopUniversities. We are platforming global education community discussions of the crisis and how we can collectively support those affected through our summits, websites and publications.
We are ceasing any new customer engagement in Russia and pausing active engagement with current Russian customers. We are ceasing the promotion of Russian universities or Russia as a study destination.
We have been working constantly to ensure the safety and security of our people in Ukraine, providing logistical and financial support to get them to safety. It is inspiring to see the breadth of support offered by our colleagues in neighbouring countries and across the world, including an active fundraising campaign for the UN Refugee Agency with QS matching team members’ donations.
We recognise that many faculty and students at Russian institutions are appalled by the actions of the Russian government and are risking their personal freedom to protest. The sector will play a pivotal role in rebuilding and we stand ready to support that, but we cannot continue to support Russian institutions under current circumstances.
Our thoughts are with all those affected by this appalling conflict.
Members of the media can contact QS via [email protected]
Russian and Belarussian universities in QS Rankings
In response to the Ukraine crisis, our intention at QS was not to actively promote Russian or Belarussian institutions through our rankings. When we worked through implementing our initial view on how to achieve that, through redacting entries, we surfaced complexities and dependencies that we hadn’t been aware of. Amongst these, were the implications for current and former international students of affected institutions who rely on our results as a form of credential to access future opportunities. Our mission is to empower people to fulfil their potential and our initial plan seemed to run against that purpose. We will still refrain from promoting Russian and Belarussian universities or their outcomes, nor promote either country as a study destination.