University Rankings: Why do we use them and what do they consist of?

Our Generational Thirst for Knowledge

We live a day in age where the search for information is continually at our fingertips. Who won the Battle of Culloden in 1746? What’s a prime number? From the habitual Wikipedia inquiry to YouTube tutorials on DIY bookshelves. Thinking about buying a new camera? Let’s compare DSLR to a compact lense. Our generation loves to compare, research, and analyze to minimize our uncertainty in so many different aspects of our decision-making.

Search engines compare companies when applying for a new job, and social media platforms keep updates on even the most personal elements of our daily life. Why wouldn’t we expect the same knowledge when making a life altering decision? Which university will I attend?

Beyond our generational need for information, University Rankings date back to before the first PC or even television. Professor Donald Hughes completed the first ranking of graduate programs in 1925 by comparing scholar’s opinions of academic institutions in the United States (Shin et al, 2011).

The United States was ahead of the curve, and in some aspects East Asia too, in regards to university rankings, continually setting new standards and criteria for the top universities. While on the European front, rankings became a popular phenomenon during the diversification of higher education in the 1960s.  According to Shin and his colleague in University Rankings: Theoretical Basis, Methodology and Impacts on Global Higher Education (2011), there are three main factors that changed higher education towards a need for university rankings: massification, marketization, and globalization.

The 60s brought a new wave of egalitarianism and drew a line from elitism in education. Professional institutions, polytechs, and community colleges allowed for a larger market of students and therefore amplified the push towards university rankings.  There was a growing need to distinguish one institution from another in the expanding competitive market.

The marketization of universities also intensified to bring in greater numbers of talented students. In the United States universities have become a profitable business where ranking for institutions is arguably as important as market share penetration for companies.  And naturally global rankings arose in the late 1990s and boomed in the 21st century with globalization and Internet connectivity. Now global rankings persist as one of the most employed method to class universities in Europe among students (QS, 2015).

Today in University Rankings

Universities concentrate on vastly different strengths, which is why it is difficult to quantify rankings. Each university follows its own mission and focuses on varying disciplinary subjects. Size and resource availability also weigh into the bias. Even more, historically governments employ differing educational structures, which can skew global rankings.

There is no link between a university’s ranking and the quality of the student body. Nevertheless, we continually use rankings as a guide when choosing a Masters program or even an exchange semester.

 “The fact that Harvard graduates tend to do well on the job market doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve received a superior education…Harvard students are [potentially] successful because their alma mater is very good at attracting bright students.” The Economist, 2016

Today, the QS University Rankings dominate in popularity among the highest used sites, such as the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) also known as the Shanghai Jiao Tong Raking, the CWTS Leiden Ranking and the Webometrics Ranking. Among Business students, the Financial Times Ranking serves as the bible to your future.

Nevertheless, each ranking list implements its own approach methodology that focuses on varying measures. For example, academic quality can be measured by the count of Nobel Prize alumni from the work completed while at the university. While academic quality could also be measured through the number of articles published on an esteemed journal.

The QS Intelligence Unit carried out a survey on “How Students Use Rankings” (2015) of 519 masters students in 2014 from various cities in Europe. 70% of the respondees answered that ranking is an “essential” or “very important” factor in their choice behavior whereas only 2% claimed that they do not use university rankings (QS, 2015).

Nevertheless according to the survey prospective students also understand the limitations of the ranking lists, using them mainly to save time in curating a list of reputable universities. 78% of students find subject-specific rankings more useful than overall rankings. 77% of students care more about the global ranking of a university than the national or regional ranking (QS, 2015).

When choosing a master program, students are highly motivated by their employment prospects after graduation. In an environment of future uncertainty, 62% of students use university rankings for “better employment prospect” upon graduation (QS, 2105). QS Intelligence Unit reports that international ranking is also an important factor for students’ perceived security in the university choice, trusting that rankings serve as the distinguishing factor between two job applicants with the same skills and experience.

Nevertheless, rankings do not affect all level of students’ choices. For example PHD students care more about their future supervisor, the academic research, and the professional connections than the university’s rank.

A Closer Look at the Methodology: Times Higher Education Ranking

PricewatersCoopers (PWC) audits the Times Higher Education Ranking. Their World University Rankings’ mission is to class universities based on “teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook” between 800 world-class educational institutions (Times Higher Education, 2016). This ranking maintains strict criteria for universities to publish at least 150 articles per year while also requiring undergraduate programs. There are 13 different indicators that make up the ranking, following a sophisticated methodology to allow for a global comparison that is both useful and reliable.

As a necessary evil, students also choose universities on how other people view the institution’s reputation. The Times Higher Education also lists the World Reputation. This index represents not only the global opinion for an institution’s quality, but also make great stakes at a student’s future prospects to open doors or simply what looks good on paper. Scholars in academia choose which universities excel at research and teaching according to their discipline to complete these rankings.

Regardless of your final choice of university, experience is what matters most. While reputation of your university certainly looks good on paper, employers care about how you maximized your university experience whether through sports, good grades, clubs, or volunteer work.

What ranking cannot quantify is how you will fit to the student spirit of the university. Do you adjust better as a small fish in big water or big fish in small water? Also, when considering studying abroad, it is also important to consider whether or not the return on investment is greater than the emotional cost of living in a new country. What about tuition? Why study in a university with a large dollar sign when you can get a quality education for practically free.

For those considering studying abroad with one of UNIL’s partner universities, here are two lists to help your search. The first is categorized by Financial Times rankings; the second is organized by the country of our academic partner. Note that these rankings are found by subject ranking for Business and Economics from the QS Top Universities (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE) and through Masters in Management on Financial Times.

The QS does not rank specifically above 50, and therefore the rank is categorized between 51-100, 101-150, and 151-200. The table shows 51, 101, and 151 to represent those categories respectively. Also note that the Financial Times only ranks up to 100 universities.

The ranking tables are located at the top of the article in the right tab.