The latest ranking of world’s top universities confirms the global domination of higher education institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom. This countries’ universities once again occupy a remarkable number of positions on the list. However, a new trend is also present – a shift from the West to the East.
Times Higher Education published its annual World University Ranking 2013-2014, powered by Thomson Reuters. Similar to previous years, U.S. and U.K. institutions take the top spots. The two countries also have an impressive number of representatives on the ranking. A total of 31 universities British universities are ranked among world’s top universities. About 14 of them improved their positions over the last twelve months. Another 14, however, registered a drop, while three did not change their positions at all. The top achievers in the U.K. are higher education institutions located within Cambridge, London and Oxford. They have all successfully climbed the chart with an average of six spots. Namely, they remain among the world’s best 10 universities. University of Oxford is leading the way for the U.K. at the 2 place. The institution shares its position with Harvard. University of Cambridge and Imperial College London complete the picture of the United Kingdom ranking at the 7th and 10th places, respectively.
The prospects are even brighter for the U.S. universities. The country is ruling the ranking by taking 77 out of 200 places. Most importantly, the list is lead by the country’s very own California Institute of Technology. The university received impressive score in nearly all categories, including teaching, research, industry income and citations. Apart from the California Institute for Technology, the States have another six universities among this year’s world’s top universities. In the top five are Harvard (2), Stanford (4) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (5). Together with Princeton University, all have an overall score higher than 90 points.
The interesting thing about this year’s ranking is that it saw the rise of Asian higher education institutions. Universities in this part of the world are now quickly catching up with those in the U.K. and the U.S. Institutions in Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China all registered a jump over the past twelve months. As a result, South Korea now has four representatives on the ranking, while Japan has five.
In contrast, the majority of European universities are losing their positions on the list. The only exceptions here are the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Take a look at the top 10 universities in the world for 2013-2014:
- California Institute of Technology (U.S.)
- Harvard University (U.S.)
- University of Oxford (U.K.)
- Stanford University (U.S.)
- Messachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.)
- Princeton University (U.S.)
- University of Cambridge (U.K.)
- University of California, Berkeley (U.S.)
- University of Chicago (U.S.)
- Imperial College London (U.K.)
The latest world university ranking clearly illustrates the shift of power from the West to the East. It will be interesting to see whether this trend will continue to be a factor over the next few years.
