What are the World’s Best Universities for 2016-2017

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The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are here for 2016 to 2017.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings

NUMBER 1:  Oxford University London (England)

There is a new university at the top of the list this year and that is Oxford University in London, England. Prior to this year, all the top ranked universities were in the U.S. Louise Richardson, the chancellor of Oxford University said that the reason they were chosen as the number one university in the world is not complicated. She said they focus on bringing the best students in the world into their university because the students make the university. She has a point because there is evidence that how others perceive the academic standing of a university and the level of research that they do affect the success of a university.

Number 2: California Institute of Technology

California Tech was the previous winner for six years in a row but this year they moved down to number two.

Number 3:  Standford University

Number three is Stanford University,

Number 4: Cambridge University

Number four is Cambridge University,

Number 5: MIT

Number five is MIT,

Number 6: Harvard

Number 6 is Harvard University

Number 7: Princeton University,

Number seven is Princeton University.

Number 8 is Imperial College London,

Number 8 is Imperial College London.

Number 9: ETH Zurich

Number 9 is ETH Zurich.

Number 10: Berkeley University & University of Chicago.

10th place is Berkeley University of California and the University of Chicago.

Aspects of Ranking by Times Higher Education

The Times Higher Education ranking looks at many different aspects of universities while determining the rankings. They examine 13 specific aspects of the way universities operate, the types of research they do, their teaching methods and how they incorporate an international view into the education.

The methods they use to rank universities give all universities an equal chance to make it to the top of the list because they look at things like how many students are in each class, how they work with other countries on research and other factors that are universal. The rankings they produce represent universities all around the world as is evident by the variety of countries represented in the top 10 for 2016 to 2017.

You can learn a lot by looking at the current status of academia by reviewing the history of the Times Higher Education rankings over the last 13 years. The data used in these decisions tells us how higher education has changed. The rankings have remained pretty much the same over time so Oxford taking the lead is a surprise to many. For most of the last 13 years, the number 1 and number 2 positions traded places every year or so and the number 3 thru number 9 positions stayed in the same order with University of Chicago bringing up the rear until this year when Berkeley tied with them.

Top Countries – US, UK and Japan

The totals by country put the United States at the top of the entire list as far as number of schools with 148 on the list. The United Kingdom comes in second with 91 schools on the current list, Japan is third with 69 and China is fourth with 52 schools on the complete list for 2016 and 2017. If you look at only the upper 200 of the list, you can see where the best universities are located.

In the top 200 you will find that China is only second the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan compared to where they stand in the full list of 200 which is only 10^th place.

Universities from Other Countries

You won’t see a lot of universities from Europe in the list from The Times Higher Education rankings but that does not mean that their schools are not excellent educational institutions. The top of the list consists of a lot of universities from countries in the West but universities from Asia are starting to become recognized. The list for the two previous years had four universities from Mainland China and South Korea also had four.

The Universities From Asia

The universities from Asia on the list are moving up the list and gaining ground. For example, there were five Hong Kong universities on the list this year which is two more than the previous year. The reason the Asian universities are moving up the Times Higher Education rankings is because they are spending more money on their universities. These universities are also gaining respect around the world which is improving their reputation. The universities on the rankings list are rated partially on the reputation that they have in the world.

The Times Higher Education rankings

The Times Higher Education rankings are trustworthy because an audit is done by Pricewater Coopers.  Information about how the list is compiled and what methods are used is available online if you are interested.

Click here to see detail  Times higher education rankings

image source: bestcollegesintheworld.com