Virginia Tech remains among the most elite universities in the world. In a ranking of more than 3,500 universities released Wednesday, Virginia Tech is in the top 200 in 18 of the 36 subjects evaluated, with its mechanical engineering and veterinary medicine programs placing in the top 50.

Virginia Tech's overall ranking is 355, placing it near the top 10 percent among universities in the annual QS World University Rankings.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering ranked 45th, its second year in a row in the Top 50. The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine ranked 49th in veterinary medicine, one of six new subjects added for 2015.

Virginia Tech once again ranked high – top 100 of the nearly 11,000 programs evaluated – in civil engineering, electrical engineering, and agriculture and forestry.

"These rankings affirm what we at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering well know – that our faculty and graduate and undergraduate students are among the best in the world," said Richard C. Benson, dean of the College of Engineering. "We have remained world leaders in the field of robotics for several years, recently unveiling a prototype humanoid robot that will one day assist firefighters aboard U.S. Navy ships, and we continue to break new ground in additive manufacturing, sponsoring a new, annual competition that has captured the attention of the U.S. Air Force."

The QS World University Rankings aim to provide a useful resource for prospective students worldwide who are seeking to identify the most prestigious and influential institutions in their chosen subject of study. The rankings are based on survey responses by faculty throughout the world, but respondents are asked to evaluate only universities in their region. This year, more than 93,000 faculty members responded.

These rankings come just months after U.S. News & World Report recognized Virginia Tech as an institution that will appeal to students "who plan to enroll in universities outside of their own country," a rating designed to show where U.S. universities "stand globally."

"International research and outreach is a big part of advancing Virginia Tech’s global reputation and rankings in the coming years," said Guru Ghosh, vice president for Outreach and International Affairs. "This reports demonstrates Virginia Tech’s momentum as we continue to strengthen our reputation as a global leader in research and scholarship."

Ghosh said the university continues to look for ways to engage with the global community. He pointed, for example, to the Language and Culture Institute, which each year participates in more than a dozen recruiting fairs in countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Taiwan, and South Korea to help attract more international students to Virginia Tech and increase international awareness of the university. The institute also develops partnerships with international universities that further link Virginia Tech to the world.

Other Virginia Tech programs – including, statistics and operational research, environmental sciences, earth and marine sciences, geography, and material science – also ranked high in the QS rankings, placing in the top 150 programs. Mathematics, physics and astronomy, chemical engineering, chemistry, and education ranked in the top 200.