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Global opportunities: The ever-increasing demand for international graduate education
University league tables
It is only in the last five years that rankings and league tables have become commonplace in the world of international education. A range of publications now routinely produce annual rankings of national and international institutions based on a range of criteria, including research performance, peer review, employer perception, the number of international students, the average salary of graduates, employment rates and different academic prizes. Rankings, like the THE-QS World University Rankings, are very useful tools for prospective students to narrow their potential university choices by a set of criteria that are generally relevant to their period of future study.
More students than ever before are turning to rankings simply because they provide an objective measure of performance for universities they may know little about other than the information they have gathered from official sources. Research indicates, however, that very few students use only rankings to make their decision, rather they are part of a process that involves web research, interview, attendance of education fairs, contact with academics and current students, alumni and the advice of friends and family before a university choice is finally made. Whatever the approach, rankings add a great deal to prospective students who are balancing a number of factors before they make their final decision on where to study.
With more rankings appearing, however, it is important to recognise that not all of them present the same information or use the same categories or criteria to compile their listings. That is not to say that rankings are not useful, rather it is a case of ensuring that what a student believes a particular ranking is presenting is what the compiler of the ranking intends.
The graduate world today is characterised by a greater interest than ever before from students who are focused on a diverse range of academic subjects offered in a, literally, limitless number of destination countries. The motivations for a period of study abroad leading to a Masters or PhD degree, however, tend to be a little more focused and to directly relate to the development of future careers, either in the country of study or elsewhere. But perhaps the most critical characteristic of the graduate world is its sense of dynamism, where innovation and change mark every aspect of the experience and the opportunity to benefit from the challenge of an international program is available to all of those willing to make an application.
