World university rankings are an important reference for international students when choosing schools. The three most influential rankings are QS, Times, and US News. The rankings are usually evaluated based on factors like academic reputation, employer reputation, student-faculty ratio, citations, and international outlook. Chinese universities have made great progress, with Tsinghua and Peking Universities entering the top 20 in 2022 Times Ranking for the first time. However, the evaluation criteria and methodology have also received doubts and criticisms.
QS, Times and US News are the most influential world university rankings
QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings and US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings are considered the three most influential global university rankings. They evaluate universities around the world based on a range of indicators like academic and employer reputation, student-faculty ratio, research impact measured by citations, and international outlook in terms of student and faculty diversity as well as international collaboration.
University funding and student spending are key factors influencing rankings
One of the most important factors influencing a university's ranking is the funding they receive and the amount of money they spend on each student over the course of their studies, which is closely related to measurements like student-faculty ratio and research output. Top US schools like Harvard spend around $80,000 per student, while cheaper public schools may only spend around $20,000. For families, in-state public schools often provide the best value.
Chinese universities see record high rankings with COVID research impact
In the latest 2022 Times Higher Education Rankings, Chinese mainland universities reached record highs, with 10 universities in the top 200. Peking University and Tsinghua University entered the top 20 for the first time at 16th place. Chinese universities also saw huge jumps in citation impact scores due to influential COVID-19 research, with Capital Medical University, Wenzhou Medical University and Wuhan University seeing increases of over 30 points.
Doubts remain about usefulness of rankings in determining outcomes
Some have questioned whether university rankings truly capture educational quality and career outcomes. Studies have found no correlation between the ranking or reputation of an American university and the average mid-career salary of its graduates when controlling for standardized test scores. Many criticize rankings for contributing to the academic arms race of spending to compete.
World university rankings by QS, Times, US News and other organizations have become important references for international students choosing universities, especially Chinese students studying abroad. The steady rise of leading Chinese universities like Tsinghua and Peking University shows the focus and investments China has made into improving higher education and research. However, rankings remain imperfect and their usefulness in determining educational and career outcomes is questionable.
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