On June 9, 2020, QS World University Rankings, one of the leading international ranking agencies, announced the results of the 2021 edition. The Universidad de Montevideo remains among the top 500 in the world for the second year in a row. 

The QS World University Rankings 2021 measure academic reputation, employability records, research quality, ratio student faculty and internationalization. The UM ranked in the 21st place within the Latin American universities included in 2020 edition. Among other indicators, the UM stands out for academic reputation.  

The Universidad de Montevideo holds academic cooperation agreements with top universities ranked by QS World University Rankings such as Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU), University College of London (UCL) and the University of Honk Kong.