In order to qualify for inclusion in the QS World University Rankings® -Performing Arts 2016, universities must offer a course or the option to specialize in these disciplines, and meet the discipline specific threshold for papers published.
| 2016 | Institution | Country | Academic | Employer | Score |
| 1 | Juilliard School | United States | 100.0 | 88.2 | 98.8 |
| 2 | University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna | Austria | 98.8 | 88.1 | 97.7 |
| 3= | Royal College of Music | United Kingdom | 94.7 | 88.2 | 94.1 |
| 3= | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | 93.4 | 100.0 | 94.1 |
| 5 | Royal Academy of Music | United Kingdom | 94.1 | 78.6 | 92.6 |
| 6 | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Formerly Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) | United Kingdom | 92.3 | 78.6 | 90.9 |
| 7 | Sibelius Academy | Finland | 95.9 | 39.2 | 90.2 |
| 8 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | United States | 90.5 | 86.4 | 90.1 |
| 9 | Guildhall School of Music and Drama | United Kingdom | 88.9 | 78.6 | 87.9 |
| 10 | Indiana University Bloomington | United States | 89.8 | 57.1 | 86.5 |
| 11 | Royal College of Music in Stockholm | Sweden | 90.5 | 39.0 | 85.4 |
| 12 | Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP) | France | 90.0 | 39.0 | 84.9 |
| 13 | Curtis Institute of Music | United States | 84.8 | 78.6 | 84.2 |
| 14 | Royal Holloway University of London | United Kingdom | 86.5 | 36.6 | 81.5 |
| 15 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | United States | 79.1 | 84.8 | 79.7 |
| 16 | Hochschule für Musik und Theater München | Germany | 84.0 | 39.0 | 79.5 |
| 17= | Harvard University | United States | 74.7 | 97.8 | 77.0 |
| 17= | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 74.6 | 98.9 | 77.0 |
| 19 | Conservatoire de Musique de Genève | Switzerland | 80.8 | 39.0 | 76.6 |
| 20 | Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin | Germany | 80.6 | 39.0 | 76.4 |
| 21 | Northwestern University | United States | 77.0 | 65.4 | 75.8 |
| 22 | New York University (NYU) | United States | 75.2 | 79.5 | 75.6 |
| 23 | King's College London (KCL) | United Kingdom | 74.5 | 84.8 | 75.5 |
| 24 | Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln | Germany | 79.3 | 39.0 | 75.3 |
| 25 | Yale University | United States | 73.9 | 86.7 | 75.2 |
| 26 | McGill University | Canada | 74.7 | 71.4 | 74.4 |
| 27 | Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory | Russia | 78.3 | 32.3 | 73.7 |
| 28 | University of Rochester | United States | 81.6 | 0.0 | 73.4 |
| 29 | University of Michigan | United States | 74.1 | 65.8 | 73.3 |
| 30 | The Liszt Academy of Music | Hungary | 77.0 | 39.0 | 73.2 |
| 31 | Purchase College SUNY | United States | 76.9 | 39.0 | 73.1 |
| 32 | University of British Columbia | Canada | 70.5 | 88.0 | 72.3 |
| 33= | Stanford University | United States | 70.2 | 87.9 | 72.0 |
| 33= | University of Texas at Austin | United States | 74.1 | 53.1 | 72.0 |
| 35 | Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) | Switzerland | 75.4 | 39.0 | 71.8 |
| 36 | University Mozarteum Salzburg | Austria | 72.8 | 60.0 | 71.5 |
| 37 | Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig | Germany | 74.6 | 39.0 | 71.0 |
| 38 | City University of New York | United States | 73.3 | 48.3 | 70.8 |
| 39= | Columbia University | United States | 70.1 | 76.3 | 70.7 |
| 39= | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | United States | 73.5 | 45.9 | 70.7 |
| 41 | Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles | Belgium | 73.8 | 39.0 | 70.3 |
| 42 | Princeton University | United States | 69.7 | 73.5 | 70.1 |
| 43= | Indonesia Institute of the Arts Surakarta | Indonesia | 73.3 | 39.1 | 69.9 |
| 43= | University of Southampton | United Kingdom | 70.3 | 66.5 | 69.9 |
| 45 | University of York | United Kingdom | 69.7 | 63.6 | 69.1 |
| 46 | Korean National University of Arts | South Korea | 71.8 | 39.0 | 68.5 |
| 47 | Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory | Russia | 71.6 | 39.4 | 68.4 |
| 48= | Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance | United Kingdom | 71.1 | 39.0 | 67.9 |
| 48= | University of Chicago | United States | 68.4 | 63.1 | 67.9 |
| 50 | Queen's University of Belfast | United Kingdom | 68.2 | 64.1 | 67.8 |
