The 2016 ranking of the 10 best universities in the world

[haidian]

The 2016 ranking of the 10 best universities in the world

Harvard University again tops the list of the world's best universities, according to a new list from the Center for World University Rankings.

For the top 1,000 universities in the world, 224 are in the US, 90 are in China, 74 are in Japan, and 65 are in the United Kingdom.

CWUR uses eight indicators to determine its rankings, including quality of education, alumni employment, and influence. The organization also credits itself as the only ranking that doesn't rely on survey or university data.

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-universities-in-the-world-2016-11/#no-10-yale-university-1

 

[tranquilium]

Erm, I will take the ranking with a health dose of skepticism, because here is the ranking methodology.

::: METHODOLOGY :::
The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) publishes the only global university ranking that measures the quality of education and training of students as well as the prestige of the faculty members and the quality of their research without relying on surveys and university data submissions.


CWUR uses eight objective and robust indicators to rank the world's top 1000 universities:

1) Quality of Education, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have won major international awards, prizes, and medals relative to the university's size [25%]
2) Alumni Employment, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have held CEO positions at the world's top companies relative to the university's size [25%]
3) Quality of Faculty, measured by the number of academics who have won major international awards, prizes, and medals [25%]
4) Publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in reputable journals [5%]
5) Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals [5%]
6) Citations, measured by the number of highly-cited research papers [5%]
7) Broad Impact, measured by the university's h-index [5%]
8) Patents, measured by the number of international patent filings [5%]

1 and 2 means universities in high population nations are penalized. The tie between alumni and CEO positions also means the ranking tends to be result of historical influence (for example, most of the CEO in top companies would be between 45+ and many international award winners would be in their 50s or 60s), this means it would be reflecting the education quality or employment two to three decades ago instead of today. The requirement of top companies also means it will skew towards North America.

Publication's percentage is way too small. A large portion of an university's responsibility is conducting research.

In all, I think the title should be changed to "10 most prestigous universities in the world "

(For example, according to the list, University of Florida would be better than Peking University of Tsinghua University. As much as I love UF, it's not even in the same league as the latter two.)