Global InformationQS World University Rankings information
| Editor | Ben Sowter (Senior Vice President) |
|---|---|
| Staff writers | Craig O'Callaghan |
| Categories | Higher education |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Publisher | Quacquarelli Symonds |
| First issue | 2004 (in partnership with THE) 2010 (on its own) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Website | topuniversities.com qs.com topmba.com |
The QS World University Rankings is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with Times Higher Education (THE) magazine as Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings, inaugurated in 2004 to provide an independent source of comparative data about university performance. In 2009, the two organizations parted ways to produce independent university rankings, the QS World University Rankings and THE World University Rankings.
QS’ rankings portfolio have since been expanded to consist of the QS World University Rankings, the QS World University Rankings by Subject, four regional rankings tables including: Asia, Latin America, Europe, Central Asia, the Arab Region, several MBA rankings, and the QS Best Student Cities rankings. In 2022, QS launched the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability and in 2023, it launched the QS World University Rankings: Europe. The rankings are intended to reflect and articulate university performance for the next academic year. Therefore, they are usually named for the year following that in which they are produced.[1] The rankings are regarded as one of the most-widely read university rankings in the world, along with Academic Ranking of World Universities and Times Higher Education World University Rankings.[2] According to Alexa Internet, it is the most widely viewed university ranking worldwide.[3]
The ranking has been criticized for its overreliance on subjective indicators and reputation surveys, which tend to fluctuate over time and form a feedback loop.[4][5][6][7][8] Concerns also exist regarding the global consistency and integrity of the data used to generate the QS rankings.[5][9][10][11] The development and production of the rankings is overseen by QS Senior Vice President Ben Sowter, who in 2016 was ranked in 40th position in Wonkhe's 2016 "Higher Education Power List", a list of what the organisation believed to be the 50 most influential figures in UK (United Kingdom) higher education.[12]
- ^ "Asian University Rankings – QS Asian University Rankings vs. QS World University Rankings™". Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
The methodology differs somewhat from that used for the QS World University Rankings...
- ^ "University rankings: which world university rankings should we trust?". The Telegraph. 2015. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
It is a remarkably stable list, relying on long-term factors such as the number of Nobel Prize-winners a university has produced, and number of articles published in Nature and Science journals. But with this narrow focus comes drawbacks. China's priority was for its universities to "catch up" on hard scientific research. So if you're looking for raw research power, it's the list for you. If you're a humanities student, or more interested in teaching quality? Not so much.
- ^ "topuniversities.com Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic – Alexa". Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ "Strength and weakness of varsity rankings". NST Online. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ a b "The State of the Rankings | Inside Higher Ed". Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Scientometricswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Methodology of QS rankings comes under scrutiny". www.insidehighered.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ^ "Competition and controversy in global rankings – University World News". www.universityworldnews.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ^ Bekhradnia, Bahram. "International university rankings: For good or ill?" (PDF). Higher Education Policy Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2017.
- ^ "Academic Ethics: To Rank or Not to Rank?". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ "QS ranking downright shady and unethical". The Online Citizen. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ Leach, Mark. "Higher Education Power List – 2016". WonkHe. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.