31 October 2008 ORT Uruguay consolidates world class status ORT Uruguay university has once again been listed among the top 400 tertiary institutions in the world by Times Higher Education magazine. There are approximately 25,000 officially recognised tertiary institutions in the world. The annual survey of tertiary institutions performed by Quacquarelli Symonds ranks ORT Uruguay at 387 up significantly on last year where it is rubbing shoulders with Washington State and Yeshiva Universities in the USA, Goldsmiths, University of London, and Deakin University in Australia. ORT Uruguays ranking means that it also makes the top 10 tertiary institutions in Latin America. We indeed feel very proud and honored to have again been included among the first 400 institutions of Higher Education Worldwide and we hope to be able to sustain our drive in years to come, said ORT Uruguay Director Charlotte de Grunberg. As a country that needs to attract investments and talents, its extremely important for us to be able to show that we are competitive at both the international and the regional level. The THE-QS World University Rankings, of which this years results are based on a record number of responses from academics and employers, have established themselves as an accepted benchmark of quality and their publication is scrutinised by students, employers and academics on every continent. The rankings are based on five criteria that aim to balance an overview of academic excellence (peer review, citations/faculty), teaching (faculty/student ratio), internationality (how international the faculty is, how international the student body is) and a profile of the institution with employers. We were told by Times Higher Education that our ranking among employers was particularly good compared to the size of the country, said ORT Uruguay University Rector Dr Jorge Grunberg. So our long term effort to ensure that the education we provide is relevant for the labour market is apparently bearing fruit. This year ORT Uruguay enjoyed it highest enrolment to date 6,700 Jewish and non-Jewish students but Dr Grunberg said this could not be attributed directly to the consistently good showing in international comparisons. What is apparent is that our high ranking has enhanced our prestige, he said. ORT is now seen in Uruguay in a class of its own and in the region we are becoming a household name. ORT Uruguay was founded as a vocational school for Jewish refugees from wartime Europe and attained official recognition as a university in 1995. Its 15,000 square metres of premises include state-of-the-art technological laboratories, research centres and libraries. Continued international recognition of ORT Uruguays excellent standards is a constant source of pride for everyone involved in ORT and an inspiration for our efforts around the world to bring the best, practical education and training for the betterment of all, said World ORT Director General Robert Singer.