US college knocked off top spot for first time in seven years, while
UK institutions 'struggle to compete on funding'
- Get the full list [http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/sep/
08/worlds-top-100-universities-2010]
Jeevan Vasagar and Rachel Williams
Wednesday September 8 2010
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/08/cambridge-worlds-best-university-harvard
Both of them have earned fistfuls of Nobel prizes, have educated
enough statesmen to table a string of international summits, and
inspired eminent scientists, philosophers and poets.
But Harvard today forfeits first place to Cambridge in a league table
of the world's top universities, the first time in the list's seven
year history that the Ivy League institution has been knocked off the
number one spot.
British universities made a strong showing, with University College
London, Oxford and Imperial all appearing in the top 10, while King's
College London and Edinburgh appeared in the top 25.
American institutions dominate the list, however, taking 31 out of the
top 100 places in the QS world university rankings [http://
www.topuniversities.com/" title="QS world university rankings]. The
list also features 15 Asian universities, lead by the University of
Hong Kong at 23. The QS table is based on measures of research
quality, graduate employability, teaching and how international the
faculties and student bodies are.
Harvard, which takes its name from John Harvard, an alumnus of
Cambridge who was its first benefactor, was still most popular among
the 5,000 employers polled worldwide.
However, Cambridge was voted best for research quality in a survey of
15,000 academics. It has an outstanding pedigree: famous minds who
pushed back the frontiers of knowledge there include Newton, Darwin
and Wittgenstein. Cambridge took overall first place in the rankings,
which also use citation counts from a database of academic publishing.
Professor Steve Young, senior pro-vice-chancellor at the University of
Cambridge, said: "While university league tables tend to over-simplify
the range of achievements at institutions, it is particularly pleasing
to note that the excellence of the transformative research - research
that changes people's lives - carried out at Cambridge is so well
regarded by fellow academics worldwide."
A Harvard spokesman said: "Harvard University is always honoured to be
recognised among such high calibre institutions of higher learning.
However, we also continue to believe it is important that students
select the college or university that best suits their individual
needs."
John O'Leary, executive member of the QS academic advisory board,
blamed a hiring freeze for Harvard losing its top spot. "Cambridge has
gone top because it has improved its citations. Harvard has taken more
students and had a hiring freeze amongst its academics. That's the
reason these two have swapped around."
The impressive showing of British and US universities is because
English is the favoured language of academia, O'Leary said. "In
general terms, UK universities, like American ones, benefit from being
English-speaking. If you're publishing in a language most researchers
aren't using, you're not going to be picked up and cited ... in the
mainstream journals."
However, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) released yesterday shows the UK lagging behind
competitors in public investment in higher education. The sector is
facing cuts of more than £1bn by the end of 2013. The share of public
spending in British higher education is 0.7% of GDP, below the OECD
average of 1%, and places Britain behind the US, Canada, Sweden,
Germany, Poland and Slovenia.
Announcing the OECD's results in London, Andreas Schleicher, the head
of its indicators and analysis division, said Finland, Canada and
Japan were now major players in higher education. "For many years the
UK was very much at the forefront," he said. "But now you do not see
that competitive advantage."
The vice-chancellors' body, Universities UK, questioned how long the
country's higher education system could maintain its world-class
position in the field given its comparative "under-investment".
The Times Higher Education magazine, which is publishing its own
global university rankings next week, is no longer collaborating with
QS. It is concerned that the careers advice company's rankings rely
too heavily on subjective surveys of scholars and employers, and not
enough on hard indicators of excellence. The THE's rankings are
expected to contain disappointing news for some prestigious British
institutions.
Ben Sowter, head of research at QS, said: "Unlike other rankings
systems which rely heavily on statistical indicators of university
research, QS also takes into account the most up-to-date views of
employers and academics, reflecting the broader interests of students
and parents. QS rankings reflect the highly competitive environment of
global higher education."
The QS rankings are weighted 40% to academic reputation, 10% to
employability, 20% to citations, 20% to the staff-student ratio and
give a further 10% weighting to how international the make-up of the
faculty and student body is.
Dr Wendy Piatt, the director general of the Russell Group of research-
intensive universities, which includes Oxford and Cambridge, said: "We
are pleased these latest figures show that Russell Group universities
still rank among the world's leading universities. However, two health
warnings should be heeded. First, this latest league table, like all
others, has its limitations and there can be no single correct way of
measuring university performance or quality.
"Second, our world-class status is under threat from other countries
who are ploughing billions into their top institutions in a determined
bid to overtake the UK in the rankings. Data released by the OECD only
yesterday shows once again that UK leading universities are already
under-resourced in comparison with their international competitors.
But now, while our competitors are investing in their future skills
and knowledge base, UK universities are threatened with further cuts
which will make it more difficult than ever to maintain their world-
class status.
"Not only North America but, increasingly, countries like China and
Korea are investing massively in their universities and as a result
their best institutions are rising rapidly up international rankings."
How they compare
Cambridge
Founded in 1209 when scholars taking refuge from hostile townspeople
in Oxford migrated to Cambridge. King Henry III took the scholars
under his protection in 1231. Peterhouse, the first college, was set
up by the Bishop of Ely in 1284.
Location Cambridge, England.
Famous alumni Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Milton, Isaac Newton,
Charles Darwin, Charles Babbage.
In numbers 11,815 students, including 1,257 from overseas, 1,590
academic staff.
Fees This year, the tuition fees for British and EU undergraduates are
£3,290 a year on all courses.
Harvard
Founded in 1636 by a vote of the Great and General Court of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, the local legislature. Named after first
benefactor John Harvard, a minister and Cambridge alumnus who
bequeathed his library and half his estate to Harvard.
Location Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Famous alumni TS Eliot, John Updike, Barack Obama, John F Kennedy,
Franklin Roosevelt, Alfred Kinsey, Robert Oppenheimer.
In numbers About 6,700 students at Harvard college, 2,100 faculty
members and more than 10,000 academic appointments in affiliated
teaching hospitals.
Fees For 2009-10, tuition fees were $33,696.
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment