QS World University Rankings by Region 2010

What are the big changes and trends in the 2010 QS World University Rankings? Well, there's plenty to talk about – including a new number one!

Here's TopUniversities.com region-by-region analysis.

UK & Ireland

It’s the story of 2010. The University of Cambridge is the top university in the world. Having placed either second or third for the last five years, the UK university has finally reached the pinnacle of higher education, nudging Harvard University of the US into second place.

But Cambridge isn’t the only UK university to improve on its performance  2010’s QS World University Rankings. The University of Bristol has climbed to place 27, up from 34 in 2009, while Durham University, ranked 103= in 2009, makes it into the top 100 for 2010 at place 92. Overall, only the US has more universities in the top 50, 100 or 200 of the 2010 QS World University Rankings.

Meanwhile, Trinity College Dublin retains its place as Ireland’s top university despite dropping out of the top 50 to be ranked 52. (In 2009, TCD ranked 43=). The other two Irish universities in the top 200, University College Dublin (UCD) and University College Cork (UCC) were ranked 114 (89 in 2009) and 184 (207- in 2009) respectively.

US

The US has by far the most universities in this year’s top 100, although the total of 53 is down on last year. It’s Harvard University that steals the show in 2010. The university, which has retained top spot since 2004, has dropped to second behind its UK rival Cambridge. However, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) jumps to fifth from ninth, reflecting a strong performance by technology universities, especially in the QS Global Employer Survey.

Yale University retains its world ranking at place number three in 2010, while UC Berkeley enjoys the biggest rise in the top 30, jumping 11 places from 39 to 28. Overall there are 13 US universities in the top 20, reflecting the dominance of the US higher education system.

Europe

Governments in Europe have been directing academics to be more actively engaged with their peers, partly in response to rankings, and the results of their efforts show in the strong performance by many top European universities in the 2010 QS World University Rankings.

In Germany, Universität Heidelberg climbs six places to 51st in the world, overtaking TUMunich which falls three places to 58th. Nine of the ten best-performing German universities show big improvements in the QS Global Academic Survey, and seven of the ten improve in the QS Global Employer Survey. In France, the number of universities in the top 200 increased by five with ENS Paris the country’s top university at 33rd, ahead of École Polytechnique in 36th place.

There has been a strong performance by the Nordic countries in this year’s QS World University Rankings. The University of Copenhagen remains the top Nordic university up six places to 45, while six Nordic universities in total (two from Denmark, two from Sweden, one from Norway and one from Finland) appear in the top 100, up two from last year.

Uppsala University has overtaken Lund University as the leading Swedish university up 13 places to 62, while the University of Helsinki is the leading Finnish university up 33 places to 75, having improved in each of the six indicators measured. The University of Oslo is the top Norwegian university moving up one place to 100.

Asia

There has been plenty of activity among Asian universities in the 2010 QS World University Rankings. In China, Peking University climbs five places to 47th in the world, overtaking Tsinghua University, which is down five places to 54th, while the ten best-performing Chinese universities have all improved their positions by an average of 14 places.

Hong Kong universities have consolidated last year’s strong performance with only the US, the UK and Australia having more universities in the top 50. The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) all appear in the world’s top 50 universities.

Meanwhile, the number of Indian institutions in the QS World University Rankings overall has fallen, as has each of their positions. In Malaysia, Universiti Malaya (UM) has been unable to hold on to its 2009 top 200 placing, dropping 27 places to 207.

University of Hong Kong is the top-ranking Asian institution, in 23rd place, leapfrogging University of Tokyo in 24th.

Australia & New Zealand

Australian and New Zealand universities have had a mixed year in 2010. Although Australia has five universities in the top 50 and seven universities in the top 100, this number is down one on last year. This is primarily due to a rise in student/faculty ratios which have previously been described as ‘unacceptably high’.

However, Australian National University (ANU) continues to make its mark on the world stage, remaining the top Australian university at 20th place (down three places from last year).

Across the ditch, all three of New Zealand’s universities which appear in the top 200 have dropped places. The University of Auckland, New Zealand’s highest ranked university is placed at 68, down from 61= in 2009. The University of Otago drops ten places from 125 in 2009 to 135 in 2010, while the University of Canterbury falls just one place to 189.

Latin America

UNAM in Mexico City, is the leading university in Latin America, despite dropping out of the top 200. But with no Latin American university appearing in the top 200, it seems it will take much more investment in higher education for Latin American countries to make their mark in the QS rankings. For the first time in several years, the region has no university in the top 200, and every country has seen a decline in the average positions of its universities.