INTERNATIONAL RANKINGS
Academic Ranking of World Universities
[http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ranking.htm]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its methods on a page titled Rankings Methodology.
This site, created by the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ranks the top universities throughout the world. The site also narrows the ratings further, creating lists for the top 100 universities in America, Europe, and Asia. The rankings are based solely on academic or research performance, using five criteria: the number of nobel laureates, highly cited researchers, articles published in Nature and Science, articles in Science Citation Index-expanded and Social Science Citation Index, and academic performance per faculty at each university.
Asiaweek: Best Universities 2000
[http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/features/universities2000/index.html]
Methodology: This site no longer offers an explanation of its rankings. To review the methodology for the 1999 rankings, see About the Rankings.
(Please note: we have recently been informed that Asiaweek will no longer be publishing their annual rankings. We will continue to link to the site as long as it is relevant.)
The third Asiaweek annual survey of Asia's top universities is a refinement of previous versions and offers separate rankings of multidisciplinary schools and science and technology schools. Seventy-nine multidisciplinary universities are ranked, led by Tohuku University, and thirty-five science and technology schools are listed, topped by the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology. All of the schools are judged by five criteria; academic reputation, student selectivity, faculty resources, research output, and financial resources.
B-School Net
[http://www.b-school-net.de/]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its rankings on the opening page.
This site, in German with English in places, offers recent rankings of business schools and leading MBA programs in Germany. There are several rankings including one based on a survey of 13,000 students focussing on several qualities including: Quality of professors in teaching; Support for students by professors; Quality and actuality of library; Quality and availability of IT; Amount and quality of student activities; Usefulness in practice; Internationality; and Cooperation of school with corporations. There are also links to further information.
Business Week Best B-Schools 2006
[http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/06/index.html]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its methods on a page titled How We Came Up With the Rankings.
Business Week offers its business school rankings, including the Top 10 International MBA Programs outside the U.S, at this site. Anyone can view the basic list on the opening page, but you must register with Business Week (for free) to view the schools' full profiles. Historical data for 1996 through 2003 is provided free in separate links found at the bottom of 2006 Full-Time MBA Program Rankings.
Financial Times Global MBA Rankings 2007
[http://news.ft.com/businesslife/mba]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its rankings in its Key to Table (pdf file) and at How to read the rankings: How the raw data are processed.
Based on surveys completed by both school officials and alumni, the Financial Times of London ranking of MBA programs offers its assessment of the top 100 MBA programs in the world. The rankings are based on relative status in three broad areas: value, diversity, and research. The main component considered as a measure of value is alumni salary. Diversity of faculty and students and availability and use of international opportunities are taken as important measures of a program's diversity. A program's research ranking is measured by the amount of publications in forty international and practitioner journals. In addition to listing the top programs worldwide, the rankings are broken down further to identify the top programs in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Asia and Australia. This site also contains an archive of past rankings. For direct access to their 2007 rankings, see their Global Rankings Interactive Table.
4 International Colleges and Universities Rankings
[http://www.4icu.org/]
Methodology: According to 4ICU, "The ranking is based upon an algorithm including three unbiased and independent web metrics: Google Page Rank, total number of inbound links and Alexa Traffic Rank." For more information see their About Us page.
Located in Australia, this site ranks colleges and universities based on their websites' popularity and usage; it does not measure the schools or their programs by quality of education or services. The site offers rankings by worldwide and geographic region. It provides user-created profiles for each school listed, but note the site recommends visiting the institution's websites for updated/accurate information.
German University Ranking
[http://www.university-ranking.org/]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its rankings in a page entitled Methodology.
This comprehensive site offers an assessment of over 250 German universities. Rather than offering numerical rankings, schools are given a score of top, middle, and bottom for academic subject areas. Each university is examined and compared using five broad criteria: professor recommendation, student opinion, equipment, research, and duration of study. In addition, the site contains detailed descriptions of each university ranked as well as the opportunity to customize the rankings to fit personal criteria and needs.
Grade My University
[http://www.grademyuniversity.com/index.php]
Methodology: These rankings are based on student reviews.
This site provides international university rankings based on student reviews of their own university. Only reviews from campus computers are accepted in order to verify current student status. Reviews on individual universities can be found by first selecting the country and then selecting the university and/or city where the university is located.
Guardian's Guide to Universities
[http://education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide2006/0,,1595180,00.html]
Methodology: See How the Tables are Compiled.
This site ranks universities in several different subject areas (e.g. Art and Design, Engineering, Medical Sciences). While heavily UK-oriented, the rankings include listings for schools in the US, Canada and Germany. The Guardian's main education site includes subject-oriented news items and much more.
HEEACT Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities
[http://ranking.heeact.edu.tw/en-us/2008/TOP/100]
MethodologyAn explanation of this site's methodology can be found on a page titled Methodology
The Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT) ranks scientific paper performances of the top 500 Universities in the world. Universities were selected by number of published journal articles from information listed in the Essential Science Indicators. Data used to assess university performance was taken from the Essential Science Indicators, Web of Science, and Journal Citation Reports. Rankings are sorted by overall performance, academic area, continent, and country.
HERO (Higher Education and Research Opportunities) in the UK: 2001 Research Assessment Exercise Outcome
[http://www.hero.ac.uk/rae/index.htm]
Methodology: The site offers an explanation of its methodology at the What is the RAE section of its opening page.
This site contains the results of the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, conducted jointly by the four higher education funding bodies in the UK: The Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Department for Employment and Learning - Northern Ireland. University programs in a variety of subjects were awarded a ranking from 1 to 5 based solely on research quality. Be sure to consult this overview to aid in interpreting the ratings.
IHEP Ranking Systems Clearinghouse
[http://www.ihep.org/Research/rankingsystemsclearinghouse.cfm]
Methodology: This site does not create its own rankings.
The Institute for Higher Education Policy's (IHEP) Ranking Systems Clearinghouse provides a road map of the complex rankings landscape, offering annotated links to national and international ranking systems and to research about rankings world-wide. The Clearinghouse is funded by Lumina Foundation for Education as part of a larger IHEP initiative to understand how rankings impact decision-making at the institutional and policy levels, the New Agenda for College and University Rankings.
Maclean's Universities Ranking
[http://www.macleans.ca/education/universities/article.jsp?content=20061113_136188_136188]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its methodology here.
This site contains information on the Maclean's annual study of Canadian institutions of higher education. Rankings are provided for three groups of institutions: medical-doctoral (broad range of PhD programs and focus on research), comprehensive (significant research activity and wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs), and those focusing primarily on undergraduate education. The schools are evaluated in many areas, including faculty, classes, finances, libraries, reputation, and student body. The complete rankings, including the rankings results, can be located through Lexis-Nexis (UIUC affiliates only) by searching for the title: OUR 16TH ANNUAL RANKINGS. Maclean's also offers a free Personalized University Ranking Tool.
Marr/Kirkwood Side by Side Comparison of International Business School Rankings
[http://www.bschool.com/intlsbys.html]
Methodology: This site does not create its own rankings.
This site provides a table of side-by-side comparisons of published rankings of the best business schools from around the world. Information for the side by side comparison is drawn from several of the ranking services listed at our rankings site.
Study Choice: Netherlands
[http://www.studychoice.nl/web/site/default.aspx]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its methodology on their About Page.
Studychoice.nl is an independent and non-commercial website supported by the Ministry of Education of the Netherlands. On this website, students can use over 80 criteria to compare 450 English taught bachelor's and master's programs in the Netherlands. This site provides an overview of which universities and colleges excel in certain areas (for example, the quality of education or the quality of the facilities near the university and in the university's home town).
THES QS World University Rankings
[http://www.topuniversities.com/home/]
Methodology: The methodology for this ranking can be found on THES QS World University Rankings: FAQ.
The Times Higher Education Supplement ranks to the top universities across the globe. The Top 200 world universities are free to view, but registration is required to see the entire rankings (over 500 universities). Each university in the rankings links a brief school description and statistics.
The Times Good University Guide
[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/good_university_guide/]
Methodology: The site explains it methodology on a page titled How the guide was compiled.
The Times of London offers its latest ranking of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. Universities are rated as a whole, and various subject departments are also rated. Several interesting subcategories ("Best For Jobs," "Most Middle Class," "Cheapest to Live In") are available. Click on league tables to find specific rankings.
University Metrics - Global University Rankings
[http://www.universitymetrics.com/tiki-index.php?page=Top+300+Universities+2006]
Methodology: based on the measurement of "G-Factor."
This website uses a form of web-metrics called the G-Factor measurement determined through using the Google search engine to search "on every leading university's website for links to the websites of other leading universities and count the total number of such links." This site ranks 300 international universities based on the G-Factor. It compares its results with Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities and offers a chart mapping G-Factor's data.
Webometrics: Ranking of World Universities
[http://www.webometrics.info/]
Methodology: This site offers an explanation of its Methodology page.
This site ranks academic web sites rather than the institutions. According to the site, "Webometric indicators are provided to show the commitment of the institutions to Web publication and to the worldwide Open Access to knowledge. The rankings should not be used for comparison purposes nor for choosing University. ... The ranking is based on a combined indicator that takes into consideration the volume of the published material on the web, and the visibility and impact of these webpages measured by the sitations (site citations) or links they received (inlinks). It is derived from the Web Impact Factor."
