IED–Istituto Europeo di Design has officially ranked among the top 100 institutions worldwide in the prestigious QS World University Rankings® for Art & Design.
This notable recognition arrives alongside the school’s 60th anniversary and the official North American launch of Casa IED—a new cultural hub in New York City dedicated to transdisciplinary dialogue and exchange.
IED ranks 78th among the top 100 universities worldwide in the Art & Design subject, according to the QS World University Rankings® by Subject 2026, the most authoritative international ranking dedicated to the comparative analysis of academic institutions’performance at a global level.
“IED reaffirms its mission: to educate the designers of tomorrow, capable of contributing to the responsible design of a more sustainable world. Being a design school means, for us, shaping talents who can design a better future,” said Francesco Gori, CEO of IED Group, following the publication of the QS World University Rankings® by Subject.
For the 2026 edition, QS analyzed the reputation and research output of over 6,000 institutions. A selection of these was then ranked across 55 subjects—including Art & Design, where IED is positioned—ensuring a broad and in-depth analytical scope for subject-specific rankings.
The QS World University Rankings® by Subject recognition comes in 2026, marking the 60th anniversary of IED’s foundation, and further confirms its leadership in higher education. IED is the largest network of European Art & Design schools. It educates designers capable of interpreting and leading the evolution of creative industries and invests in higher education to create opportunities for younger generations, contributing to broader economic growth.
Today, IED operates across 11 campuses in 3 countries—Italy, Spain, and Brazil—and one cultural hub in New York. This geographical expansion has been accompanied by continuous cultural evolution. Each year, IED welcomes more than 10,000 students from around the world and has built a community of over 200,000 alumni, with a graduate employment rate of 93%.
The QS World University Rankings® by Subject is based on multiple indicators. In the case of Art & Design, the ranking primarily relies on reputational metrics. Among the most relevant, academic reputation assesses institutional performance based on the opinions of academics and provides an international perspective on strategic collaborations, innovation, and the educational and social impact of universities. Employer reputation measures how institutions are perceived by employers and reflects graduates’ success in the job market. In other subject areas, additional indicators include research-related metrics such as citations per paper, H-index, and international research network.
Images courtesy of Istituto Europeo di Design
