LONDON, May 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

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Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) has overtaken Brazil's Universidade de São Paulo (USP) to top QS University Rankings: Latin America for the first time.  USP slips to second, having ranked first every year since 2011.

Whereas USP is the top institution for research productivity, UC is well ahead when it comes to citations. UC has also improved its student/faculty ratio and web impact this year.

                                        QS University Rankings: Latin America - Top 10
          2014              2013        Institution                                 Country
          RANK              RANK
            1                 2         PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CAT�"LICA DE CHILE     CHILE
            2                 1         UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO (USP)              BRAZIL
            3                 3         UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE CAMPINAS (UNICAMP)  BRAZIL
            4                 8         UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO DE JANEIRO       BRAZIL
            5                 4         UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES COLOMBIA          COLOMBIA
            6                 5         UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE                          CHILE
            7                 7         TECNOL�"GICO DE MONTERREY (ITESM)            MÉXICO
                                        UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUT�"NOMA
            8                 6         DE MÉXICO (UNAM)                             MÉXICO
                                        UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA
            9                11         "JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO"                    BRAZIL
           10=               10         UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE MINAS GERAIS         BRAZIL
           10=               14         UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL    BRAZIL

                    (c) QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2014 http://www.TopUniversities.com

Brazil and Chile have strengthened their dominance this year, with Mexico, Argentina and Colombia struggling to keep up. Brazil has three of the top four institutions and 10 of the top 20, while 16 of the 20 leading Chilean universities have improved their position.

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) slips two places to 8^th, falling behind Tecnológico de Monterrey for the first time.  Despite being rated number one for academic reputation, UNAM has comparatively modest scores in several other indicators.

Argentina's Universidad de Buenos Aires drops seven places to 19^th, having ranked 8^th in 2011. Buenos Aires is the region's most popular institution among graduate employers, but like UNAM suffers from a comparatively poor student/faculty ratio and low proportion of staff with a PhD.

Seven of the top 10 Colombian universities have dropped, with Universidad de Los Andes Colombia slipping to fifth and Universidad Nacional de Colombia dropping five places to 14^th.

"Universities from Mexico, Argentina and Colombia excel in specific areas, but they currently lack the all-round consistency of the top institutions from Brazil and Chile," says QS head of research Ben Sowter. "High student-to-faculty ratios are an issue at several major public research institutions throughout the region."

18 countries are represented, led by Brazil with 78, ahead of Mexico (46), Colombia (41), Argentina (34) and Chile (30).

SOURCE QS Quacquarelli Symonds