A new report highlights the schools in the world that scholars perceive as the most reputable. (Shutterstock)
Harvard University can claim more than a few distinctions in the world of education: it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States (founded in 1636), it has produced 47 Nobel Laureates, 32 heads of state and 48 Pulitzer Prize winners; and, eight of the school’s alumni went on to serve as president of the United States.
Harvard can, as of this month, claim another distinction: the most reputable institution of higher learning on Earth—an honor it has enjoyed for the past six years.
This according to an annual ranking of the world’s most reputable universities, compiled by Times Higher Education (THE), a UK-based publication that focuses on colleges and universities.
Overall, among the top universities, there is little change from last year’s results. The second and third positions are held by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University, as they were last year. The only minor shakeup among the upper echelon was the introduction of the University of Chicago to the top-10, which claimed ninth place, up from eleventh last year. That is due, says THE, to the improved perception of the school’s teaching and research.
Overall, schools in the United States were the most prevalent within the top-100.
“Claiming 42 places in the top 100 list (one fewer than last year), the US is the most-represented country in the table,” wrote THE rankings editor, Phil Baty, as part of the release of the annual report. “But it will have to watch out for the rise of Asia as several of the continent’s higher education stars overtake well-established American powerhouses. For example, China’s Tsinghua University and Peking University both leapfrogged the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University in the table this year while the University of Tokyo now has a stronger reputation than Columbia University. Meanwhile Seoul National University is now considered more prestigious than the University of California, Davis. Overall 20 of the U.S.’s 42 representatives have declined since last year and only eight have improved; the rest are stagnant.”
According to the numbers, China’s Tsinghua University and Peking University have seen marked improvement in recent years. Tsinghua University rose 21 spots since 2011 to reach 14th place this year, while Peking University improved 26 positions during this same period, claiming the 17th position in the latest results.
Method
In compiling the ranking, THE partners with Elsevier, an information analytics company based in Netherlands. According to THE, “the 2017 rankings are based on a survey carried out between January 2017 and March 2017, which received a total of 10,566 responses from 137 countries.” The respondents are all experienced, published scholars who are questioned based on their specific disciplines, and asked to name 15 institutions they feel are the best in the specific discipline that they (the respondent) are familiar with.For more detail on THE’s reputation ranking methodology, visit the organization’s in-depth description here.
Quality Versus Perception
It’s important to note that THE’s ranking of the most reputable universities is a different animal from its ranking of the overall quality of universities (which we cover each fall). Though Harvard tops the list of most reputable institutions of higher learning, it ranks only sixth on the overall list of best schools in the world, which is based on performance in teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.The top-ranked schools on THE’s overall list are Oxford University, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Stanford University, in that order. On the Reputation ranking, Oxford places fourth; Caltech is tenth, and Stanford is third.
