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Global University Rankings: The European Commission project

Even the harshest critics of university ranking systems agree on one thing - they are not going to go away. Nor are they going to lose their influence, which is widespread among students and their parents, academics and university managers, politicians and policy makers. On the contrary, the prospect is that rankings will multiply like iPhone apps, until we reach the point where there is one for every possible purpose.

Competition in the rankings is a good thing

Competition is a good thing in most industries. It stimulates innovation and creates choice. At QS, founder of the World University Rankings, we have spent the last six years providing seminars and workshops for academics, employers and university students explaining the differences between the QS system, and other rankings such as Shanghai Jiao Tong, HEEACT and Webometrics.

Rankings are a challenging undertaking to which there is no “right answer”.

Understanding QS World University Rankings™ methodology

QS has been producing university and business school research for the past 20 years. During this period, we have introduced innovations such as the use of global employer and academic surveys as a cornerstone of our approach.

In that time, QS research has become highly respected and every year is referenced in roughly 1000 different newspapers, journals and web sites – a Who’s Who of the best media around the world.

Specialist institutions' performance in rankings

Take a look at the winners in QS’s 2009 World University Rankings. Seven of the top ten are big, general universities, starting with Harvard in top spot. Three others complete the top group: MIT, Caltech and Imperial College London.

Recession and international student mobility

Many commentators predicted that international student mobility would fall as a result of the global recession, but the reverse may be true.

Not only has the recovery been relatively swift in the Asian economies that fund many of the world’s international students, but restrictions on university enrolments in the West may encourage more students there to look beyond their own country for higher education.

Comparing ranking systems

The world’s first system for ranking universities is still not 30 years old. US News and World Report launched America’s Best Colleges in 1983. And if you pick up a copy of the 2010 edition this August, you will see one reason why university rankings exist.

Since 1983, university ranking has become a world industry. But before we ask how universities can be ranked, it is important to consider why.

The British Council’s Going Global 4 conference

The British Council’s Going Global 4 conference was held in London on March 24 to 26, and attracted over 1,200 delegates to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. Going Global has established itself as a showcase for the UK’s presence in international education, and Going Global 5 will be held in Hong Kong in 2011.

2010 QS Asian University Rankings: a case of quantity over quality for mainland China’s universities?

China is a nation and an economy on the rise – but can the same be said of its universities? Danny Byrne looks at what the 2010 QS Asian University Rankings reveal about the progress of mainland China’s top universities.

University rankings – a vital tool, or just a hobby for "alpha males"?

Rebecca Hughes of the University of Nottingham, UK, told the British Council’s Going Global 4 conference in March that there is something “alpha male” about the desire to rank the world’s universities. Fascinated by this concept, Martin Ince of the QS World University Rankings™ executive board interviewed her to find out more.

EU Rankings: will it help European universities?

Think of the European Union and you may think of a body that hands massive subsidies to unprofitable farmers. But even at its inception in 1957, research was one of the European Community’s first objectives. Now it has grown into a central concern for the EU.

Its politicians and its civil servants, the European Commission, see research as a contributor to economic growth, and to priorities such as coping with climate change. It sees research as a key part of European competitiveness, alongside labour mobility or open financial markets.