Umm Al-Qura University achieved significant improvement in the 2020 QS World University Rankings, moving from the 541th to the 501th position in the rankings in 2019 A.C. The UQU Vice President for Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Hani Ghazi, stated that the university is advancing in steady and deliberate steps towards improving its global ranking.

Dr. Hani Ghazi stressed that the university has a systematic plan during the coming two years to enter Shanghai University Rankings (the Academic Ranking of World Universities [ARWU]), which has a stronger focus on scientific research. He added that the university also has a plan to enter the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings, in which the top 100 global universities are ranked according to firm standards. It is considered the most internationally recognized ranking.

This achievement comes in conjunction with UQU obtaining institutional accreditation for the present academic year, 2019 A.C., from the National Center for Academic Accreditation and Assessment, and reflects the Umm Al-Qura relentless pursuit to be among the top 100 universities in the world. This is within the permanent directives and the continuous follow-up of His Excellency the UQU President, Prof. Abdullah bin Omar Bafail, and its endeavor towards improving and developing its indicators according to the international standards as well as the excellence of its academic and research outputs.

The advisor for the international cooperation and the university rankings, Dr. Saleh Ahmad, said that the QS World University Rankings is one of the most widely read university comparisons. The ranking adopted a number of measurements, including: the international vision, the quality of the academic outputs, the average number of students per faculty member, the quality of the scientific and research production, and the international status of the university by measuring the average number of the international faculty members and the foreign students.