The progress is also significant, as QS evaluated 288 foreign and 3 domestic higher education institutions more than last year, for a total of 958 institutions in its 2026 ranking.

The progress in the ranking is primarily due to the development shown in the areas of international student mobility and academic and employer reputation. According to the QS assessment, Pázmány performs particularly well in the number of students participating in international exchange programs, both inbound and outbound mobility.

In the number of incoming student mobility (Inbound Exchange Students / Erasmus) indicator, the university ranks 74th in the European comparison, which is an outstanding result considering the entire field. In a domestic comparison, Pázmány ranks 2nd in this category. This includes students who come to the University from foreign higher education institutions for at least one semester as part of an international exchange program.

Within the regional ranking, the university achieved several outstanding positions in the comparison of Hungarian higher education institutions. Among the 17 domestic higher education institutions on the 2026 list, Pázmány achieved first place in the “Citations per Paper” indicator, which measures the quality and international impact of scientific publications based on the Elsevier Scopus database, taking into account publications from the past five years. The result indicates that the university’s researchers publish high-impact scientific work that has an outstanding international impact.

In the “Papers per Faculty” indicator – which reflects the volume of research activity – Pázmány ranked 4th nationally. Based on the number of outgoing exchange students, the university ranks 5th nationally.

In the comparison of Eastern European universities, Pázmány was also able to improve its position: it moved up from the previous 80th place to the 70th place, which clearly shows the strengthening of the institution within the region. The results of the QS Europe 2026 ranking clearly confirm the increase in international visibility of Pázmány Péter Catholic University, the strengthening of its research performance, and its consistent commitment to student mobility.