US NEWS & WORLD REPORT AND OTHER LEADING WORLD MEDIA REPLACE 'TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION' AS PUBLISHING PARTNERS

London, 2^nd November 2009

QS, the authors of the World University Rankings, have achieved a record level of visibility for the 2009 rankings which were published on 8th October 2009. Over 500 newspapers and publications published results of the rankings. In the last twelve months five million visitors from 229 countries have viewed the rankings results on the QS web site www.topuniversities.com. This reflects the huge interest in this original piece of research, which enables meaningful comparison of university performance over time and across borders (see the 25 countries producing the most visitors below).

Nunzio Quacquarelli, Managing Director at QS says, “a primary reason the rankings have been so well accepted is the stability and credibility of the methodology which QS designed and which provides a meaningful measure by which university leaders, journalists, parents and prospective students can compare universities.”

QS has been producing the World University Rankings since 2004, in collaboration with THE; This six-year partnership between QS and Times Higher Education reached the end of its term with the 2009 results and QS will not only continue to operate the World University Rankings independently of THE from 2010, but will also continue to publish results in The Sunday Times, US News & World Report, CHOSUN Ilbo (the leading Korean newspaper), South China Morning Post and other leading media around the world, ensuring the continued growth in visibility and awareness of the rankings.

The QS World University Rankings will exclusively employ our consistent methodology, be operated by the same team that created the rankings in 2004 and will draw upon all the historic data which remains the intellectual property of QS in its entirety. This includes the continued use of citation data provided from Scopus by Elsevier, which has the largest abstract and citation database of research literature in the world.

Ben Sowter, Head of the QS Intelligence Unit comments, "When QS initiated the World University Rankings in 2004, the UK's Times Higher Education magazine was an appropriate lead partner. As the reach and perception of QS has extended globally, it is important for a wide range of world media to broadcast our World University Rankings, as well as new research we will be publishing in 2010."

Nunzio Quacquarelli adds, "The partnership with THE may be at an end, but the QS World University Rankings are unaffected. QS will continue its commitment to producing world class institutional research and providing ranking, classification and evaluation tools for a growing number of geographical and disciplinary contexts. Only Nian Cai Liu and his team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have a comparable length and depth of experience in international university rankings.”

The QS team is strengthened by John O’Leary, ex-Editor and Martin Ince, ex-rankings Editor of THE both of whom continue as contributing writers for QS World University Rankings and QS Top Universities Guide. Together with Ben Sowter and Nunzio Quacquarelli of QS, this is the same team that has worked on the rankings since inception in 2004.

For more information, please contact:

Simona Bizzozero
Media Relations Manager
QS
Mobile:  +44 (0) 78 80 62 08 56
Tel:         +44 (0) 20 72 84 72 48 
simona@qs.com

Notes:

1. Annual Number of Rankings Visitors to TopUniversites.com – Top 25 Countries

Source: Google Analytics – 1^st November 2009

2. QS World University Rankings Indicators

The calculations leading to the QS World University Rankings are based on data gathered in the following categories:

• Academic Peer Review
• Employer Review 
• International Faculty Ratio
• International Student Ratio
• Student Faculty Ratio
• Citations per Faculty (citation data supplied by Scopus)

3. QS World University Rankings Methodology 2009

The detailed review of the research methodology, changes and updates in data gathering and computation in 2009 is available on www.topuniversities.com. 

4. QS Quacquarelli Symonds QS provides guidance for higher education and career choices, enabling high achievers to progress towards their leadership goals. Through our exclusive events, publications, research and interactive web tools, we link undergraduate, graduate, MBA and executive communities around the world with recruiters and education providers. Our communities include: QS TopUniversities.com, QS TopGradSchool.com  QS TopMBA.com, QS Global Workplace.com. The QS team of over 150 individuals from the four corners of the world represent the experience and goals of the achievers we aim to assist. They include internationally recognized experts in the higher and business education arena. QS operates globally from offices in London, Paris, Singapore, Stuttgart, Shanghai, Sydney, Washington DC, Boston, and Johannesburg.

5. QS Intelligence Unit

Established in 2008, the QS Intelligence Unit (QSIU) draws all QS research projects together from Employer and Applicant Research to the QS World University Rankings. A growing team, the unit also provides bespoke institutional research services to universities, employers and government departments. Published outputs from QSIU in the next twelve months will include classifications, a new university rating system and additional rankings by subject and geography. For more information visit www.qs.com/intelligenceunit or follow the blog at http://qsiu.wordpress.com

6. Top Universities Guide – The Official Guide to the QS World University Rankings contains advice on selecting, applying and financing your university experience.  Co-edited by Nunzio Quacquarelli, Martin Ince and John O’Leary, the 500 page Guide contains detailed profiles on all top ranked universities around the world. 

7. Times Higher Education was founded in 1971 and is the weekly magazine of universities, whose readership is primarily in the UK.  It is not affiliated to The Times [of London] newspaper.