Universities Weblog

(Source: Harvard University)Who's number one…in the world? According to the (London) Times Higher Education Supplement, it's Harvard. The publication ranked the top 200 universities, representing 29 nations. Criteria included a reputational survey of 1,300 academics in 88 countries (50 percent); ranking of research impact (20 percent); faculty-to-student ratio (20 percent); percentage of international undergraduate students (5 percent); and percentage of international faculty (5 percent).

Here are the top 10:

1. Harvard University
2. University of California-Berkeley
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4. California Institute of Technology
5. Oxford University
6. Cambridge University
7. Stanford University
8. Yale University
9. Princeton University
10. ETH Zurich

Note the dominance of American institutions, which occupy seven of the 10 spots. The next 10, however, include institutions from six countries (four are American).

As for the race for first, it wasn't even close. So says the Times:

It will take a big change to shift Harvard University from top place…. Strong performances on all five measures confirm what most observers have long suspected: that Harvard is in the position to which all leading universities aspire. The riches of its endowment will make the university hard to challenge, but its performance is not simply a matter of money. A reputation for being the best in the world Acts as a magnet for the most talented students and staff.

What does all this mean? For American universities, probably nothing. Here, U.S. News is still king, the final word on educational rankings, at least for the millions of students who put stock in what that publication says.

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