Quacquarelli Symonds has released the fourteenth edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject. The rankings provide an independent comparative analysis of the performance of more than 1,500 universities in 96 countries and territories, in 55 academic disciplines and five broad areas of study.

La Sapienza - University of Rome, which maintains its world leadership in classical studies and ancient history, a testament to Italian academic excellence. Also confirmed in the World Top 20 is the Libera università internazionale degli studi sociali (Luiss) and first nationally for political and international studies. In addition, Luiss makes its entry into the world's top 50 for Marketing.

The QS ranking now includes 56 Italian universities, with a total of 577 rankings -- a net increase of 47 from the previous edition -- in 55 academic disciplines.

Italian universities took 99 positions (3 more than in the last edition) in the five major areas of study: arts and humanities, engineering and technology, life sciences, natural sciences and social sciences. Globally, Italy ranks seventh in number of entries in the rankings and eighth in number of universities present. A detailed breakdown of the rankings by level-including No. 1, top 10, top 20, top 50, top 100 and top 200-for the European Union countries featured in this study sees Italy occupying the second position in terms of the number of overall rankings, behind only Germany.

In a more focused comparison within the EU, Italy ranks second in terms of the number of placements in the world's top ten subjects, with eight placements, just behind the Netherlands, leading the way with 13 placements. Notably, Italy emerges as the ninth best university education system globally among the 96 countries and territories ranked, in terms of placements in the top 10. Its eight placements equal those of China-despite the fact that China has more than twice as many universities ranked as Italy-and exceed those of Germany, France and Japan by three places.