New V Old: Does University Age Matter?

In many aspects of life, youth is often seen as an enviable attribute. For some reason, higher education is the polar opposite with many institutions around the world trying to claim they’ve been around since T-Rex walked the earth. Words like: “Established”, “Ancient” and ” Historic” are often thrown in brochures whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Whilst (I hope) not many people will choose a university purely based on its age, anecdotal evidence still suggests that when it comes to choosing a university, “older” is often synonymous with “better”.

Last year’s QS University Rankings: Asia saw Hong Kong University of Technology, an institution which celebrated its 20th birthday last year, top the ranking, pushing out its century-old rival, University of Hong Kong. NTU in Singapore ( 21 years), KAIST (41years ) and POSTECH( 26 years ) in South Korea have also steadily climbed up the ranking since 2009.

Whether you agree with the last year’s results or not, there’s no denying that these young Asian institutions are doing something right. From just considering a semester abroad or committing to a full degree,  many international students are now heading East in search of a young, hot institution.

The 2012 QS University Rankings: Asia will be published alongside a new global ranking, the QS Top 50 Under 50 at midnight (UK time) tonight. The new 50 under 50 ranking, as it describes on the tin, will highlight the top 50 universities in the world that have been established in the past 50 years.

So it’s battle of the young vs old. But who will come out on top? Results in six hours...