London: The universities in Asia continue to shine in the Times Higher Education (THE) World Reputation Rankings 2017, which was released on 14 June 2017. The definitive list of the world’s most prestigious universities compiled from research insight from leading global academics.
The US takes 8 out of the top 10 places, and have a total of 42 institutions in the top 100. However, Asian universities continue their rise with 28 institutions in this year’s ranking with China continuing to rise and, this year, overtaking several prestigious European institutions.
Mainland China is the stand-out performer in the region; Tsinghua and Peking universities have each risen four places to 14th and 17th place respectively, overtaking distinguished Western institutions including Imperial College London, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University. Meanwhile, the University of Hong Kong features in the top 40 for the first time in five years after climbing six places to joint 39th, and South Korea has three representatives, up from two in last year’s table. Both of Singapore’s leading universities also make the table.
On this year’s World Reputation Ranking, Phil Baty, Times Higher Education rankings editor, said: “The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings are based on nothing more than subjective judgment – but it is the considered judgment of senior, published academics, the people best placed to know the most about the world’s universities.
“The ranking reflects an increasingly competitive higher education landscape, in which institutions across the world are jostling to make a name for themselves on the global stage.”
On North America’s peformance, Phil Baty commented “North America still dominates the THE World Reputation Rankings, taking almost half of the places in the top 100 list. But its standing is becoming increasingly threatened by increasingly prominent brands in Asia that are making a name for themselves on the global stage. Overall 20 of the US’s 42 representatives have declined since last year and only eight have improved; the rest are stagnant.
“The situation is not much rosier in Canada. Although the country’s three leading institutions remain in the list, they have all lost ground; Toronto has slipped one place to 24th, while British Columbia and McGill have each dropped three places to 40th and joint 42nd respectively.
“North American universities will need to ensure they maintain their reputation as the higher education landscape becomes increasingly competitive.”
“This ranking shows that universities in the Asia-Pacific are becoming increasingly prominent brands on the world stage.
“However, there are warning signs for Japan and Taiwan. Although the regions have improved their performance in the reputation table, their diminishing success in the World University Rankings list in recent years may harm their prestige in future years. Meanwhile, it is disappointing that Australia does not have more representatives, given the strong teaching and research performances of its universities.”
On Europe’s performance, Phil added “There are more positive developments for Western Europe too. Switzerland’s University of Zurich makes the list for the first time since 2012, claiming a spot in the 91-100 band, while several of the UK’s 10 representatives have made gains. Oxford has caught up with Cambridge for the first time in the seven-year history of the table, with both institutions sharing joint fourth place, while UCL, LSE and Edinburgh each jump four places to reach 20th, 24th and joint 34th respectively.
“Western European universities will need to ensure they maintain their reputation as the higher education landscape becomes increasingly competitive.”
The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings – Top 30
Reputation rank 2017 Reputation rank 2016 Institution Country
1 1 Harvard University United States
2 2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
3 3 Stanford University United States
=4 4 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
=4 5 University of Oxford United Kingdom
6 6 University of California, Berkeley United States
7 7 Princeton University United States
8 8 Yale University United States
9 11 University of Chicago United States
10 10 California Institute of Technology United States
11 12 University of Tokyo Japan
12 9 Columbia University United States
13 13 University of California, Los Angeles United States
14 18 Tsinghua University China
15 14 University of Michigan United States
16 20 University College London United Kingdom
17 21 Peking University China
18 15 Imperial College London United Kingdom
19 16 University of Pennsylvania United States
20 24 London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
21 22 Johns Hopkins University United States
22 19 ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich Switzerland
23 17 Cornell University United States
24 23 University of Toronto Canada
=25 27 Kyoto University Japan
=25 25 New York University United States
27 26 National University of Singapore Singapore
28 28 Duke University United States
29 =35 University of California, San Diego United States
30 =30 Lomonosov Moscow State University Russian Federation
