Academic Ranking of World Universities
Encyclopedia
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually. Since 2009, the rankings have been published by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy.
The ARWU is regarded to be one of the three most influential and widely observed international university rankings, along with the QS World University Rankings
and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
. Its consistent and objective methodology is praised when compared with other rankings. However, it has also been criticized for its heavy focus on the natural sciences over the social sciences
or humanities
, and over the quality of instruction.
s and Fields Medal
s (10 percent), staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (20 percent), highly-cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories (20 percent), articles published in the journals
Nature
and Science
(20 percent), the Science Citation Index
and Social Sciences Citation Index
(20 percent) and the per capita academic performance (on the indicators above) of an institution (10 percent). The methodology is set out in an academic article by its originators, N.C. Liu and Y. Cheng. Liu and Cheng explain that the original purpose of doing the ranking was "to find out the gap between Chinese universities and world-class universities, particularly in terms of academic or research performance."
in 2005 commented ARWU as "the most widely used annual ranking of the world's research universities." In 2010, the Chronicle of Higher Education called ARWU "the best-known and most influential global ranking of universities".
One of the factors in the significant influence of ARWU is that its methodology looks globally sound and transparent. EU Research Headlines reported the ARWU's work on 31st Dec 2003: "The universities were carefully evaluated using several indicators of research performance." Chancellor of Oxford University, Prof. Chris Patten, said "the methodology looks fairly solid ... it looks like a pretty good stab at a fair comparison." Vice-Chancellor of Australian National University
, Prof. Ian Chubb, said "The SJTU rankings were reported quickly and widely around the world… (and they) offer an important comparative view of research performance and reputation." Margison (2007) also commented the ARWU ranking that one of the strengths of "the academically rigorous and globally inclusive Jiao Tong approach" is "constantly tuning its rankings and invites open collaboration in that." Philip G. Altbach named ARWU's "consistency, clarity of purpose, and transparency" as significant strengths.
The ARWU ranking and its content have been widely cited and applied as a starting point for identifying national strengths and weaknesses as well as facilitating reform and setting new initiatives. Bill Destler (2008), the president of the Rochester Institute of Technology, draw reference to the ARWU ranking to analyze the comparative advantages the Western Europe and US have in terms of intellectual talent and creativity in his publication in the journal Nature
.
European commissioner of Education, Jan Figel, pointed out in an interview in 2007 that "if you look at the Shanghai index, we are the strongest continent in terms of numbers and potential but we are also shifting into a secondary position in terms of quality and attractiveness. If we don't act we will see an uptake or overtake by Chinese or Indian universities." Also, Enserink (2007) referred to ARWU and argued in a paper published in Science
that "France's poor showing in the Shanghai ranking ... helped trigger a national debate about higher education that resulted in a new law... giving universities more freedom." The world leading think tank Rand Corporation used the ARWU ranking as evidence in their consultancy paper to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
In two subsequent research papers published by Academic Leadership (2009), then in an article published by the Times Higher Education (2009), Paul Z. Jambor of Korea University established the connection between any unfavorable image/reputation universities may develop (and/or their association, by country, to those universities linked to the wrongdoing) to a halt in their climb or even to a drop in their Times Higher Education – QS World University Rankings. This is because 40% and 10% of THE – QS World Methodology is based on Academic Peer Review and Employer Review respectively. In essence, any unfavorable image developed by a group of universities, associated by country, tends to harm their collective rankings. For this reason, universities worldwide should seriously consider adhering to internationally accepted standards so that they do not run the risk of sliding in the ranks on the international front. Consequently, a number of critics consider this aspect of THE – QS World University Rankings unfair and even biased.
often stimulate controversy (see Criticism of college and university rankings (North America)
and Criticism of college and university rankings (2007 United States)
) and the ARWU is no exception. A 2007 paper published in the journal Scientometrics
found that the results from the Shanghai rankings could not be reproduced from raw data using the method described by Liu and Cheng.
In a report from April 2009, J-C. Billaut, D. Bouyssou and Ph. Vincke analyze how the ARWU works, using their insights as specialists of Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). Their main conclusions are that the criteria used are not relevant; that the aggregation methodology has a number of major problems; and that insufficient attention has been paid to fundamental choices of criteria.
The ARWU researchers themselves, N.C Liu and Y Cheng, think that the quality of universities cannot be precisely measured by mere numbers and any ranking must be controversial. They suggest that university and college rankings should be used with caution and their methodologies must be understood clearly before reporting or using the results.
Others have pointed out, the ARWU is known for "relying solely on research indicators", and "the ranking is heavily weighted toward institutions whose faculty or alumni have won Nobel Prizes": it does not measure "the quality of teaching or the quality of humanities."
Ioannides et al. suggested that (in common with all ranking systems they reviewed), the ranking lacked
construct validity modest concordance between the Shanghai and Times rankings. They highlighted measurement precision, and transparent methodology as important issues.
Like the Times Higher Education's rankings, the ARWU has been criticized by the European Commission as well as some EU member states for "favour[ing] Anglo-Saxon higher education institutions".
| 2004
| 2005
| 2006
| 2007
| 2008
| 2009
| 2010
|
2011
The table below contains the overall rankings as ordinal numbers (i.e., 1 is best, 2 is second best, etc.) from 2003 to 2010 for all universities that ranked in the top 100 in one of the years tabulated. The ranking is omitted for years in which the school did not land within the top 100. Note, the full ranking contains over 500 universities. If a university is not listed in this table, it did not rank in the top 100 in any of the eight years tabulated.
The ARWU is regarded to be one of the three most influential and widely observed international university rankings, along with the QS World University Rankings
QS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...
. Its consistent and objective methodology is praised when compared with other rankings. However, it has also been criticized for its heavy focus on the natural sciences over the social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
or humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, and over the quality of instruction.
Methodology
The ranking compares 1200 higher education institutions worldwide according to a formula that took into account alumni winning Nobel PrizeNobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
s and Fields Medal
Fields Medal
The Fields Medal, officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union , a meeting that takes place every four...
s (10 percent), staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (20 percent), highly-cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories (20 percent), articles published in the journals
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
and Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
(20 percent), the Science Citation Index
Science Citation Index
The Science Citation Index is a citation index originally produced by the Institute for Scientific Information and created by Eugene Garfield in 1960, which is now owned by Thomson Reuters. The larger version covers more than 6,500 notable and significant journals, across 150 disciplines, from ...
and Social Sciences Citation Index
Social Sciences Citation Index
Social Sciences Citation Index is an interdisciplinary citation index product of Thomson Reuters' Healthcare & Science division. It was developed by the Institute for Scientific Information from the Science Citation Index....
(20 percent) and the per capita academic performance (on the indicators above) of an institution (10 percent). The methodology is set out in an academic article by its originators, N.C. Liu and Y. Cheng. Liu and Cheng explain that the original purpose of doing the ranking was "to find out the gap between Chinese universities and world-class universities, particularly in terms of academic or research performance."
Influence
As the first multi-indicator ranking of global universities, ARWU has attracted a great deal of attention from universities, governments and media. A survey on higher education published by The EconomistThe Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
in 2005 commented ARWU as "the most widely used annual ranking of the world's research universities." In 2010, the Chronicle of Higher Education called ARWU "the best-known and most influential global ranking of universities".
One of the factors in the significant influence of ARWU is that its methodology looks globally sound and transparent. EU Research Headlines reported the ARWU's work on 31st Dec 2003: "The universities were carefully evaluated using several indicators of research performance." Chancellor of Oxford University, Prof. Chris Patten, said "the methodology looks fairly solid ... it looks like a pretty good stab at a fair comparison." Vice-Chancellor of Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
, Prof. Ian Chubb, said "The SJTU rankings were reported quickly and widely around the world… (and they) offer an important comparative view of research performance and reputation." Margison (2007) also commented the ARWU ranking that one of the strengths of "the academically rigorous and globally inclusive Jiao Tong approach" is "constantly tuning its rankings and invites open collaboration in that." Philip G. Altbach named ARWU's "consistency, clarity of purpose, and transparency" as significant strengths.
The ARWU ranking and its content have been widely cited and applied as a starting point for identifying national strengths and weaknesses as well as facilitating reform and setting new initiatives. Bill Destler (2008), the president of the Rochester Institute of Technology, draw reference to the ARWU ranking to analyze the comparative advantages the Western Europe and US have in terms of intellectual talent and creativity in his publication in the journal Nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
.
European commissioner of Education, Jan Figel, pointed out in an interview in 2007 that "if you look at the Shanghai index, we are the strongest continent in terms of numbers and potential but we are also shifting into a secondary position in terms of quality and attractiveness. If we don't act we will see an uptake or overtake by Chinese or Indian universities." Also, Enserink (2007) referred to ARWU and argued in a paper published in Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
that "France's poor showing in the Shanghai ranking ... helped trigger a national debate about higher education that resulted in a new law... giving universities more freedom." The world leading think tank Rand Corporation used the ARWU ranking as evidence in their consultancy paper to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
In two subsequent research papers published by Academic Leadership (2009), then in an article published by the Times Higher Education (2009), Paul Z. Jambor of Korea University established the connection between any unfavorable image/reputation universities may develop (and/or their association, by country, to those universities linked to the wrongdoing) to a halt in their climb or even to a drop in their Times Higher Education – QS World University Rankings. This is because 40% and 10% of THE – QS World Methodology is based on Academic Peer Review and Employer Review respectively. In essence, any unfavorable image developed by a group of universities, associated by country, tends to harm their collective rankings. For this reason, universities worldwide should seriously consider adhering to internationally accepted standards so that they do not run the risk of sliding in the ranks on the international front. Consequently, a number of critics consider this aspect of THE – QS World University Rankings unfair and even biased.
Criticism
College and university rankingsCollege and university rankings
College and university rankings are lists of institutions in higher education, ordered by combinations of factors. In addition to entire institutions, specific programs, departments, and schools are ranked...
often stimulate controversy (see Criticism of college and university rankings (North America)
Criticism of college and university rankings (North America)
Criticism of college and university rankings refers to movements which developed among faculty and administrators in American Institutions of Higher Education as well as in Canada.-Reed College:...
and Criticism of college and university rankings (2007 United States)
Criticism of college and university rankings (2007 United States)
Criticism of college and university rankings refers to a 2007 movement which developed among faculty and administrators in American Institutions of Higher Education. It follows previous movements in the U.S...
) and the ARWU is no exception. A 2007 paper published in the journal Scientometrics
Scientometrics (journal)
Scientometrics is a peer reviewed journal in the field of scientometrics. It is currently published by Akadémiai Kiadó and Springer Science+Business Media and has appeared continuously since 1978....
found that the results from the Shanghai rankings could not be reproduced from raw data using the method described by Liu and Cheng.
In a report from April 2009, J-C. Billaut, D. Bouyssou and Ph. Vincke analyze how the ARWU works, using their insights as specialists of Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). Their main conclusions are that the criteria used are not relevant; that the aggregation methodology has a number of major problems; and that insufficient attention has been paid to fundamental choices of criteria.
The ARWU researchers themselves, N.C Liu and Y Cheng, think that the quality of universities cannot be precisely measured by mere numbers and any ranking must be controversial. They suggest that university and college rankings should be used with caution and their methodologies must be understood clearly before reporting or using the results.
Others have pointed out, the ARWU is known for "relying solely on research indicators", and "the ranking is heavily weighted toward institutions whose faculty or alumni have won Nobel Prizes": it does not measure "the quality of teaching or the quality of humanities."
Ioannides et al. suggested that (in common with all ranking systems they reviewed), the ranking lacked
construct validity modest concordance between the Shanghai and Times rankings. They highlighted measurement precision, and transparent methodology as important issues.
Like the Times Higher Education's rankings, the ARWU has been criticized by the European Commission as well as some EU member states for "favour[ing] Anglo-Saxon higher education institutions".
Rankings
2003Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2003
This is the 2003 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 100 universities in the world.-Top 10:...
| 2004
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2004
This is the 2004 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 100 universities in the world.-Top 100:...
| 2005
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2005
This is the 2005 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 100 universities in the world.-Top 100:...
| 2006
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2006
This is the 2006 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 100 universities in the world.-Top 100:...
| 2007
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2007
This is the 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 100 universities in the world.-Top 100:...
| 2008
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2008
This is the 2008 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 100 universities in the world.-Top 100:...
| 2009
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2009
This is the 2009 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 10 universities in the world.-Top 10:-Asia & Australia:-Europe:-North America:...
| 2010
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2010
This is the 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 10 universities in the world.-Top 10:-Asia & Australia:-Europe:-North and Latin America:-Mathematics:-Social Sciences:-Medicine and Pharmacy:...
|
2011
Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2011
This is the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities list of the top 100 universities in the world.-Top 10:-Mathematics :...
The table below contains the overall rankings as ordinal numbers (i.e., 1 is best, 2 is second best, etc.) from 2003 to 2010 for all universities that ranked in the top 100 in one of the years tabulated. The ranking is omitted for years in which the school did not land within the top 100. Note, the full ranking contains over 500 universities. If a university is not listed in this table, it did not rank in the top 100 in any of the eight years tabulated.
| University | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aarhus University |
93 | 97 | 98 | |||||
 Arizona State UniversityArizona State University Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona... |
100 | 96 | 93 | 94 | 81 | |||
 Australian National UniversityAustralian National University The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students... |
49 | 53 | 53 | 54 | 57 | 59 | 59 | 59 |
| Boston College Boston College Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early... |
32 | 15 | 90 | 47 | 83 | 83 | 74 | 77 |
| Boston University Boston University Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers... |
49 | 82 | 82 | 85 | 70 | 71 | 69 | 65 |
| California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering... |
3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.... |
61 | 62 | 62 | 56 | 60 | 62 | 59 | 58 |
| Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA... |
51 | 65 | 65 | 70 | 78 | 83 | 87 | 97 |
| Columbia University Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the... |
10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Cornell University Cornell University Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions... |
12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Duke University Duke University Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B... |
33 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 31 | 35 |
 École normale supérieure - ParisÉcole Normale Supérieure The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles... |
85 | 93 | 99 | 83 | 73 | 70 | 71 | |
| Emory University Emory University Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of... |
99 | 100 | ||||||
 Free University of BerlinFree University of Berlin Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the... |
95 | 99 | 83 | |||||
| Harvard University Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country... |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
 Hebrew University of JerusalemHebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J... |
94 | 90 | 90 | 60 | 64 | 65 | 64 | 72 |
| Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities... |
95 | 95 | ||||||
 Imperial College LondonImperial College London Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine... |
17 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 27 | 26 | 26 |
| Indiana University - Bloomington |
97 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 90 | |||
| Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States... |
24 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
 Karolinska InstitutetKarolinska Institutet Karolinska institutet is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest medical universities... |
39 | 46 | 46 | 48 | 53 | 51 | 50 | 42 |
| King's College London King's College London King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and... |
75 | 77 | 77 | 83 | 83 | 81 | 65 | 63 |
 Kyoto UniversityKyoto University , or is a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, and formerly one of Japan's Imperial Universities.- History :... |
30 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 24 |
| Lund University Lund University Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities... |
93 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 97 | 97 | ||
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in... |
6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
 McGill UniversityMcGill University Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university... |
79 | 61 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 60 | 65 | 61 |
| McMaster University McMaster University McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens... |
86 | 88 | 88 | 90 | 87 | 89 | 91 | 88 |
| Michigan State University Michigan State University Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,... |
87 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 83 | 86 | 86 |
 Moscow State UniversityMoscow State University Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy... |
66 | 66 | 70 | 76 | 70 | 77 | 74 | |
| Nagoya University Nagoya University Nagoya University is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.-General Rankings:... |
68 | 97 | 97 | 98 | 94 | 82 | 79 | |
| New York University New York University New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan... |
55 | 32 | 32 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 31 |
| North Carolina State University North Carolina State University North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution... |
99 | |||||||
| Northwestern University Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees.... |
29 | 30 | 30 | 33 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 |
| Ohio State University Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States... |
81 | 73 | 73 | 66 | 61 | 62 | 62 | 59 |
| Osaka University Osaka University , or , is a major national university located in Osaka, Japan. It is the sixth oldest university in Japan as the Osaka Prefectural Medical College, and formerly one of the Imperial Universities of Japan... |
53 | 54 | 54 | 61 | 67 | 68 | 71 | 75 |
| Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service... |
40 | 43 | 43 | 42 | 43 | 42 | 45 | 43 |
| Princeton University Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution.... |
7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Purdue University Purdue University Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and... |
80 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 68 | 65 | 65 | 69 |
| Rice University Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States... |
61 | 75 | 75 | 87 | 87 | 97 | 99 | 99 |
| Rockefeller University Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates... |
28 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 34 |
| Rutgers University Rutgers University Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American... |
38 | 44 | 44 | 46 | 47 | 54 | 55 | 54 |
| Stanford University Stanford University The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San... |
2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Stockholm University Stockholm University Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world... |
97 | 97 | 84 | 86 | 86 | 88 | 79 | |
 ETH ZurichETH Zurich The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland.... |
25 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 23 | 23 |
| Technical University of Munich Technical University of Munich The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan... |
60 | 45 | 45 | 54 | 56 | 57 | 57 | 56 |
| Texas A&M University Texas A&M University Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school... |
70 | 88 | 91 | 88 | 88 | 95 | ||
| Tohoku University Tohoku University , abbreviated to , located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It is the third oldest Imperial University in Japan and is a member of the National Seven Universities... |
64 | 69 | 69 | 76 | 76 | 79 | 84 | 84 |
| Tokyo Institute of Technology Tokyo Institute of Technology The Tokyo Institute of Technology is a public research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology. Tokyo Tech enrolled 4,850 undergaraduates and 5006 graduate students for 2009-2010... |
89 | 99 | ||||||
| Tufts University Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France... |
83 | 99 | 99 | |||||
| University of Arizona University of Arizona The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885... |
55 | 76 | 76 | 76 | 74 | 77 | 77 | 78 |
| University of Basel University of Basel The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country... |
96 | 91 | 91 | 81 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 86 |
| University of Birmingham University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus... |
93 | 93 | 90 | 92 | 91 | 94 | 99 | |
| University of Bonn University of Bonn The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number... |
99 | 99 | 99 | 97 | 98 | 93 | ||
| University of Bristol University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is... |
55 | 60 | 60 | 62 | 62 | 61 | 61 | 66 |
| University of British Columbia University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley... |
35 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 36 |
| University of California, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA... |
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| University of California, Davis University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment... |
36 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 43 | 48 | 49 | 46 |
| University of California, Irvine University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA... |
44 | 55 | 55 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 46 | 46 |
| University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses... |
15 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| University of California, Riverside University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United... |
88 | |||||||
| University of California, San Diego University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States... |
14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| University of California, San Francisco University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world... |
13 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los... |
26 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 36 | 35 | 32 |
| University of Cambridge University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally... |
5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| University of Chicago University of Chicago The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890... |
11 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| University College London University College London University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London... |
20 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 21 | 21 |
| University of Colorado University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado... |
31 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 32 |
| University of Copenhagen University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the... |
65 | 59 | 59 | 56 | 46 | 45 | 43 | 40 |
| University of Edinburgh University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university... |
43 | 47 | 47 | 52 | 53 | 55 | 53 | 54 |
| University of Florida University of Florida The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906... |
75 | 67 | 67 | 53 | 51 | 58 | 58 | 68 |
| University of Freiburg University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the... |
88 | 88 | 93 | 94 | 96 | |||
 University of Ghent |
99 | 90 | ||||||
| University of Göttingen |
91 | 79 | 79 | 85 | 87 | 90 | 90 | 93 |
 University of GroningenUniversity of Groningen The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated... |
84 | |||||||
| University of Heidelberg |
58 | 64 | 64 | 66 | 65 | 67 | 63 | 63 |
 University of HelsinkiUniversity of Helsinki The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available... |
74 | 72 | 72 | 74 | 73 | 68 | 72 | 72 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system... |
45 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 25 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop... |
96 | |||||||
| University of Iowa University of Iowa The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees... |
90 | 95 | 97 | |||||
| University of Leiden |
78 | 63 | 63 | 72 | 71 | 76 | 72 | 70 |
| University of Manchester University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group... |
89 | 78 | 53 | 50 | 48 | 40 | 41 | 44 |
| University of Maryland, College Park University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C... |
75 | 57 | 57 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 36 |
| University of Melbourne University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria... |
92 | 82 | 82 | 78 | 79 | 73 | 75 | 62 |
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of Michigan The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan... |
21 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 |
| University of Minnesota, Twin Cities University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557... |
37 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 33 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
| University of Munich |
48 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 53 | 55 | 55 | 52 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States... |
52 | 56 | 56 | 59 | 58 | 38 | 39 | 41 |
| University of Nottingham University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia... |
80 | 80 | 79 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | |
 University of OsloUniversity of Oslo The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin... |
63 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 69 | 64 | 65 | 75 |
| University of Oxford University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096... |
9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| University of Paris 6 (Pierre and Marie Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University The Paris VI University , or the Pierre and Marie Curie University , is a university located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France.... ) |
65 | 41 | 41 | 45 | 39 | 42 | 40 | 39 |
| University of Paris 11 (Paris-Sud 11 University Paris-Sud 11 University University of Paris-Sud or University of Paris-Sud or University of Paris XI is a French university distributed among several campuses in the southern suburb of Paris... ) |
72 | 48 | 48 | 64 | 52 | 49 | 43 | 45 |
| University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution... |
18 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| University of Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of... |
53 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 49 | 52 | 50 | 56 |
 Sapienza University of Rome |
70 | 93 | 97 | 100 | ||||
| University of Rochester University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The... |
72 | 52 | 52 | 74 | 75 | 73 | 77 | 82 |
| University of Sheffield University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities... |
68 | 69 | 69 | 69 | 72 | 77 | 81 | 88 |
| University of Southern California University of Southern California The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university... |
40 | 48 | 48 | 47 | 50 | 50 | 46 | 46 |
| University of Strasbourg University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers.... |
82 | 82 | 96 | 99 | ||||
| University of Sydney University of Sydney The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania... |
97 | 94 | 92 | |||||
| University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin... |
47 | 40 | 40 | 39 | 38 | 39 | 38 | 38 |
| University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is one of the biomedical research institutions of the University of Texas System, incorporating three degree-granting institutions, four affiliated hospitals, including Parkland Memorial, the teaching hospital, and biomedical research... |
34 | 36 | 36 | 38 | 39 | 41 | 48 | 49 |
| University of Tokyo University of Tokyo , abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university... |
19 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 20 |
| University of Toronto University of Toronto The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada... |
23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 27 | 27 |
| University of Utah University of Utah The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest... |
81 | 95 | 95 | 94 | 93 | 79 | 80 | 82 |
| Utrecht University Utrecht University Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors.... |
40 | 39 | 39 | 40 | 42 | 47 | 52 | 50 |
 University of ViennaUniversity of Vienna The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world... |
84 | 86 | 86 | |||||
| University of Virginia University of Virginia The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson... |
67 | 95 | 91 | 96 | ||||
| University of Washington University of Washington University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University... |
16 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| University of Wisconsin–Madison University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866... |
27 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| University of Zurich University of Zurich The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy.... |
45 | 57 | 57 | 58 | 58 | 53 | 54 | 51 |
| Uppsala University Uppsala University Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of... |
59 | 74 | 74 | 65 | 66 | 71 | 76 | 66 |
| Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the... |
32 | 38 | 38 | 41 | 41 | 42 | 41 | 53 |
| Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations... |
22 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 30 |
| Yale University Yale University Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States... |
8 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
See also
- College and university rankingsCollege and university rankingsCollege and university rankings are lists of institutions in higher education, ordered by combinations of factors. In addition to entire institutions, specific programs, departments, and schools are ranked...
- Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings
- Global University Ranking
- Webometrics Ranking of World UniversitiesWebometrics Ranking of World UniversitiesThe Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, also known as Ranking Web of World Universities, is ranking system for the world's universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web contents and the visibility and impact of these web publications...
External links
- ARWU
- Jambor, Paul Z. 'The Changing Dynamics of PhDs and the Future of Higher Educational Development in Asia and the Rest of the World' Department of Education – The United States of America: Educational Resources Information Center, September 26, 2009 (Accessed in October, 2009)