QS Sustainability Rankings 2026: Politecnico di Milano enters the world’s Top 200

The Politecnico di Milano enters the top 200 of the QS Sustainability Ranking for the first time in 2026, placing 133^rd out of 2,002 universities assessed.
The result marks a particularly significant leap compared with previous rankings – 278^th in 2025 and 401^st in 2023 – an even greater achievement given participation in the QS Rankings continues to grow: this year, the published results included 15% more universities than last year.

Within Italy, the Politecnico has risen from 9^th to 2^nd place, out of 57 Italian universities.

The improvement is driven by the broad category of Environmental Impact, in which the University has risen from 399^th to 111^th place. Particularly positive results were achieved for two of the ‘lenses’ under this category:
The first was Environmental Sustainability, which measures policies and strategies for campus sustainability: the Politecnico ranked 42^nd globally and 1^st in Italy.
The second was Environmental Education, revolving around the education and initiatives on offer concerning environmental issues. Here, the university ranked 238^th worldwide and, again, 1^st in Italy.

In the Social Impact category, the Politecnico obtained solid results for the strength of its relationship with the job market, coming in at 123^rd globally under the 'Employability and Opportunities' lens. That includes graduates’ reputations, partnerships and employment opportunities. The Politecnico also secured a good position (205th) under the 'Knowledge Exchange' lens, which assesses international partnerships and local impact. 

In the Governance category, which looks at transparency, decision-making processes, representation and institutional integrity, the Politecnico ranked 135^th overall.

The University was awarded an overall score of 87.6/100 in the QS Sustainability Ranking 2026, having made improvements in almost all indicators compared to the previous year.