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Uni Rankings 2009

The US' Harvard University remains top of the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings for the sixth year running. But the UK's University of Cambridge is now second, pushing Yale University into third place. Fourth place is taken by University College London, up from seventh last year. Fifth place is shared by Imperial College London, up from sixth, and the University of Oxford, which has slipped from fourth spot last year. After Oxford and Imperial in fifth place, the next ten places in the table are filled by US institutions. But the US' overall dominance of world higher education appears to be slipping: it has 32 universities in the top 100 this year, down from 37 last year.

Australia: Eight Unis in Top Hundred

The highest-placed institution outside the US and UK was the Australian National University, which slipped from 16th to 17th. The ANU scores particularly well in social sciences and the Arts. Australia held its own in the rankings, with eight universities in the top 100 compared with seven last year.
The ranking, a collaboration between THE and higher education consultants Quacquarelli Symonds, is used around the world by consumers - parents and students - as well as academics looking for work and employers seeking recruits.
Universities are ranked in six categories, the most important being peer review. Scores are also given by international students.

Asia is on the way up

Asian Universities are catching up with Japan has 11 institutions in the top 200, up from ten last year, and its representation in the top 100 has increased from four to six.
Hong Kong has five institutions in the top 200, up from four last year, including three in the top 50: the University of Hong Kong, up two places to 24th; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, up four places to 35th; and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, down four places to 46th. City University of Hong Kong rose 23 places from 147th to 124th.

China

Mainland China has maintained its position, with six institutions in the top 200. South Korea also increased its representation in the full list, with four institutions included in the ranking compared with three last year. Its best-placed institution, Seoul National University, rose from joint 50th to joint 47th.
Philip Altbach, director of the Centre for Higher Education at Boston College in the US, says several factors are behind the surges by Asian institutions.
"These countries have invested heavily in higher education in recent years, and this is reflected in the improved quality in their top institutions," he says. "They have also attempted to internationalise their universities by hiring more faculty from overseas ... this helps to improve their visibility globally.
"These universities have also stressed the importance of their professors publishing in international journals, which has no doubt increased the visibility of their research."
 
 

National honours: most institutions in top 200

 

 

2008

2009

Country

Region

    

US

North America

58

54

UK

Europe

29

29

Canada

North America

12

11

Japan

Asia

10

11

Netherlands

Europe

11

11

Germany

Europe

11

10

Australia

Australasia

9

9

Switzerland

Europe

7

7

China

Asia

6

6

Belgium

Europe

5

5

Hong Kong

Asia

4

5

Sweden

Europe

4

5

France

Europe

4

4

South Korea

Asia

3

4

Denmark

Europe

3

3

Israel

Asia

3

3

New Zealand

Australasia

3

3

India

Asia

2

2

Ireland

Europe

2

2

Norway

Europe

1

2

Russia

Europe

1

2

Singapore

Asia

2

2
 
 
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