The QS ranking of world universities, regarded as the most rigorous, listed the Universidad de Navarra as the top Spanish private university in the area of "Life Sciences & Medicine". The institution achieved the 284th position worldwide in the same classification. 

The ranking emphasizes the unique value of the University including "the quality of the education, understood as the empowerment of the teachers in order to offer the best education". It also highlights that 86.6% of faculty have a Phd and that 13% of these PhDs were earned abroad.

Furthermore, QS highlights the research at University of Navarra, with 9 centers for applied research: University of Navarra Hospital, the Center for Applied Medical Research, the Pharmacobiology Research Center, the Modern and Contemporary History Research Centre, de Technical Research Center of Gipuzkoa (CEIT), the Biomedical and Development Research Center, Nutrition and Bioengineering, the Tropical Health Institute and the Society and Culture Institute. In addition, it also brought up the synergies between IESE Business School's campuses located in Madrid, Barcelona, New York and Munich.