World university rankings is one of the factors that should be taken into account when choosing a university and a study program. Here you'll read about what ratings exist in the world, how they are formed and how to work with them to get the most objective information.
Free consultationInternational rankings are one of the factors to consider when choosing a university and study program. We will tell you what ratings exist in the world, how they are formed, and how to work with them in order to get the most objective information.
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Advanced searchThrough rankings, an applicant can assess the quality of teaching, percentage of deductions, number of English speakers, conditions of laboratory equipment, and so on. Do not fall for the stereotype that the goal of any brilliant student is to get into Oxford or Cambridge. Everyone has their own ideal university, and it may well turn out that the most popular and "prestigious" ones do not suit you personally.
There are several authoritative rankings, each of which can place universities in a completely different order. At the same time, the composition of the top 50 in various ranking systems coincides by 60-70%. It must be understood that all rankings are statistics and survey results, which are not always confirmed in practice. Ivy League schools deliver several thousand graduates every year, but not every one of them becomes a great inventor or even finds a high-paying job.
In general, all ranking systems can be divided by scope: global and national.
There are about 20 world ranking systems. Usually, they compare 500 to 1500 universities. They use their own methodologies, which is why universities will not have the same positions. In one ranking, a university may have a high position due to reviews, and in another, a low position due to fewer published studies.
National rating systems are suitable for those who have already decided on a country. These include, for instance, CHE University Ranking (Germany), The Complete University Guide (UK), and Niche (USA).
There are more than 60 national ranking systems in total. They offer many more choices than international ones do, but not all of them can be objective or of high quality. Half of the national ranking systems are managed by government organizations, and the other half — by private companies or the media. The latter, due to a lack of resources, can raise the position of universities for money or provide false/outdated information.
Both world and national rankings can have specializations:
We will talk about popular world ranking systems and their methodologies a bit later. Here we propose to consider the key factors that influence the positions of universities.
Science and research is perhaps the most important factor in rankings and the most misleading factor in choosing a university. The scientific potential of a university is evaluated according to several criteria:
In different ranking systems, these indicators range from 20 to 100% of the total score. They are of the greatest importance in the ARWU. In THE , the "weight" of publications and citations makes up 60% of all criteria. A little less attention is paid to scientific potential in QS Rankings — only 20%.
There is also Webometrics, which ranks universities by the frequency of mentions and the number of publications on the Internet (only open access articles are taken into account). It is more objective than QS and THE, since it does not take into account the prestige of universities — it only looks at figures for specific scientific indicators. And still, the leading positions are occupied by Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, MIT, and other well-known universities — which is logical, because throughout their history they have produced hundreds of Nobel laureates and tens of thousands of revolutionary articles. They have conducted millions of important studies, which attracted more funding, brilliant scientists, and so on.
If you aim to conduct postdoctoral research and study in a MRes (master's degree in research) or PhD program, then scientific indicators will be one of the main factors when choosing a university. Otherwise, pay more attention to other criteria.
This is the number of students per teacher. In QS Ranking, such a ratio makes up 20% of the total score. The leading positions according to this criterion are occupied by American and British universities, which isn’t surprising. The university systems there are so developed that there are about 10 students per teacher, while European universities have up to 300 students per professor. This factor is more important than it may seem at first glance. After all, a student will absorb better information in a small room at a seminar than in a huge lecture hall. Thus, the student-teacher ratio directly affects the quality of teaching.
The current situation faced in the Netherlands is a good example of how important the student-teacher ratio truly is. Due to a large number of incoming foreign students, universities and professors cannot cope with the load. Classrooms are overcrowded, there are not enough dormitories, and teachers express difficulty in teaching so many people — they cannot deal with the workload[1]. In turn, the quality of education in the country is largely affected.
The number of international students at a university is also taken into account, but to a lesser extent. This indicator makes up only 10% of the grade in QS and 7.5% in THE. However, such a factor affects the chances of a foreign student to enter and take part in scientific projects.
In addition to the above, there are other factors. Some of them relate more to the staff than to students, but in one way or another they have an impact on the educational process. For example:
Henceforth, we invite you to get acquainted with the most famous world ranking systems in order to understand what indicators they consider when evaluating universities, and why this or that university actually takes its place.
QS Rankings is produced by the British Quacquarelli Symonds company, and takes into account five criteria.
As you can see, the reputation of a university makes up exactly half of the ranking score, based solely on the opinion of the focus group — scholars and employers. For this reason, the rating is often accused of being biased. It is almost impossible for universities from developing countries or universities that have not yet made a name for themselves to make the list.
QS Rankings evaluates and ranks less than 10% of the world’s universities, which does not greatly distinguish it from other international ranking systems. You can probably name the top ten universities without looking if you start listing the most popular universities in the world: Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, and so on.
QS is convenient in that it also offers ratings by region and area of study:
You can also view the results for specific specialties (dentistry, archeology, geography, and so on). Of course, at the world level they will be approximately the same: MIT, Stanford, and Cambridge. The only exceptions are "unusual" programs, such as librarianship or agriculture, where completely different universities take on the leading positions. In the same QS system, you can find graduate employability rankings, which reflect how well universities teach in demand professional skills to prepare students for work.
If you decide to use QS Rankings, remember that the main indicator is the reputation of a university, which does not always guarantee the quality of education. However, it is hard to deny that the prestige of a university provides funding and attracts researchers, and this only benefits students.
THE is an independent ranking system. It was first published with Quacquarelli Symonds (QS Ranking), but the companies split in 2009. THE editors have developed their own methodology, which takes into account more indicators than QS does. At the same time, both systems repeat the same universities in their top twenty list (with the exception of Singaporean universities). THE evaluates universities according to various indicators, grouped into five sections:
A university is not included in the ranking if it does not offer bachelor’s programs or has published less than 1000 scientific papers from 2016 to 2020[3]. Due to its strong focus on research, THE is considered to propose the most objective rankings for postgraduate programs (master’s and PhD), as well as engineering and science programs. Less attention is paid to social science and humanities disciplines.
THE, like QS, allows you to sort universities by subject, country, and region.
The company also compiles regional and field rankings:
A study conducted at the University of California, Berkeley shows that positions in the QS World University Rankings depend on whether they have contracts with the rating agency. The hypothesis was proved on the example of Russian universities[4]. The study compares the growth dynamics of 28 universities from 2016 to 2021 in the QS, THE, and national statistics. Thanks to contracts, Russian universities have risen in the QS Rankings by about 140 positions higher than they could have done without them.
To determine the research potential of a university, it is better to refer to the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). It evaluates universities according to five criteria:
ARWU was created on the basis of Shanghai University to understand how big a gap there is between Chinese and American/British universities. Interestingly, in 2021, there was not a single Chinese university in the top 20 ARWU. Also, the Shanghai ranking is known to be the most consistent, given that the positions of universities rarely change.
Among the advantages of ARWU are ratings by regions and faculties, a focus on scientific activity, and an account for prestigious university awards. Of the drawbacks — a focus on the Chinese labor market, criteria that are not applicable to most universities, a small database, and the lack of assessment on teaching quality.
Besides its main ranking, THE also publishes a reputation ranking of universities. According to the official website of the agency, reputation rankings are compiled based on the opinions of invited scholars. Researchers from 128 countries of the world and representatives of different scientific fields receive a special questionnaire[6]. There are no objective criteria for these ratings — only the subjective perceptions of scholars. Whether to trust their opinion and THE is up to you, but it is worth looking at the list for the sake of noting any new universities (The University of Tokyo being one of them).
University rankings in terms of academic performance are, of course, significant — they reflect the quality of education and student satisfaction. However, they do not take into account details that may also be important for students, an example being the general financial investments in the development of the university. For students, this indicator means the possibility of receiving financial assistance, and for those who plan to study science, means good funding for projects, comfortable conditions for research, and high salaries. The wealthier the university, the more scholars it attracts from around the world.
The richest university in the world, with a budget of more than 41 billion USD is Harvard. The average funding of American universities is 1.4 billion USD[7]. In addition to the United States, there are universities with large endowments in Britain, Saudi Arabia and Singapore[8].
It is worth taking a closer look at the financial situation of a university if you plan to engage in scientific research or are looking for large scholarships. The Ivy League schools, for example, provide grants that can fully cover the cost of education due to its large budget.
| University | Country | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | USA | 41,9 млрд |
| Stanford University | USA | 29 млрд |
| Princeton University | USA | 26 млрд |
| King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) | Saudi Arabia | 20 млрд |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | USA | 18,3 млрд |
| University of Pennsylvania | USA | 14,8 млрд |
| University of Texas | USA | 12,7 млрд |
| University of Notre Dame (ND) | USA | 12,3 млрд |
| University of Cambridge | UK | 10 млрд |
Such an indicator is especially interesting to look at right after the list of the richest universities. Please note that these two indicators do not coincide, and often even diverge.
Wealthy universities, as a rule, are also prestigious with a worldwide reputation, and can therefore only afford to accept the best applicants. Highly competitive, Harvard and Stanford only accept 3-5% of applications. Universities where many students study are, for the most part, located in South Asia, and are financed not from private funds, but by the state. They do not have much of a budget, and there are literally millions of students. Because of this, they are unable to provide quality education and high salaries to employees, as well as to purchase good equipment for research.
| University | Country | Number of students |
|---|---|---|
| Indira Gandhi National Open University | India | 4 млн |
| National University of Bangladesh | Bangladesh | 2 млн |
| Anadolu University | Turkey | 1.9 млн |
| Islamic Azad University | Iran | 1.5 млн |
| Allama Iqbal Open University | Pakistan | 1.3 млн |
| Universitas Terbuka | Indonesia | 646 тыс |
| State University of New York (SUNY) | USA | 606 тыс |
| Tribhuvan University | Nepal | 604 тыс |
| University of Mumbai | India | 549 тыс |
| Ramkhamhaeng University | Thailand | 529 тыс |
More and more universities are oriented towards multiculturalism. This is due to the general trend of globalization and the desire to bring the experience of students and scholars from different countries to science and art. For those who plan to study abroad, this indicator is also important. After all, if a university walks under the slogan of diversity, then it can be easier for a foreign student to study there. Such universities have well-developed student communities and an active international department that helps students from other countries with adaptation. Because of this, they do not feel like strangers. The stress of moving and interacting with a new culture can negatively impact a student's mood, motivation, and academic performance. Therefore, the presence of special centers that provide support to students is also important.
The Times Higher Education website has published a ranking of the most international universities. It was created on the basis of four factors:
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