The United States is for the moment a global superpower, in terms of military might and economic power. It is also a superpower in the academic world when it comes to prestige. The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2014 has seen the powerhouse secure 46 of the top 100 spaces. It has eight places in the top 10 and occupies the top three. Harvard University comes in at the number one position, a position it has held since the tables were first published. Perhaps because American universities have been around for at least a century, they are perceived as must attend key academic institutions.
The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2014 list is done employing a process that implies inviting the world’s academic opinion in a exclusive survey to provide one of the most influential the definitive list of the top 100 most powerful global university brands. Bellow teh top 50 Universities in the ranking
World Reputation Rankings 2014
| Rank | Institution | Location | Overall score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvard University | United States | 100.0 |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | United States | 90.4 |
| 3 | Stanford University | United States | 74.9 |
| 4 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 74.3 |
| 5 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | 67.8 |
| 6 | University of California, Berkeley | United States | 63.1 |
| 7 | Princeton University | United States | 35.7 |
| 8 | Yale University | United States | 30.9 |
| 9 | California Institute of Technology (Caltech) | United States | 29.2 |
| 10 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | United States | 28.8 |
| 11 | The University of Tokyo | Japan | 27.7 |
| 12 | Columbia University | United States | 21.6 |
| 13 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom | 20.9 |
| 14 | University of Chicago | United States | 20.8 |
| 15 | University of Michigan | United States | 18.9 |
| 16 | ETH Zürich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich | Switzerland | 17.4 |
| 17 | Cornell University | United States | 16.9 |
| 18 | Johns Hopkins University | United States | 16.8 |
| 19 | Kyoto University | Japan | 15.1 |
| 20 | University of Toronto | Canada | 14.9 |
| 21 | National University of Singapore (NUS) | Singapore | 13.5 |
| 22 | University of Pennsylvania | United States | 12.8 |
| 23 | University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign | United States | 12.7 |
| 24 | London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | United Kingdom | 11.8 |
| 25 | University College London (UCL) | United Kingdom | 11.5 |
| 26 | Seoul National University | Republic of Korea | 10.9 |
| 27 | New York University (NYU) | United States | 10.3 |
| 28 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | United States | 10.2 |
| 29 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States | 9.6 |
| 30 | Duke University | United States | 9.4 |
| 31 | University of Washington | United States | 9.0 |
| 32 | University of California, San Francisco | United States | 8.7 |
| 33 | University of British Columbia | Canada | 8.6 |
| 33 | McGill University | Canada | 8.6 |
| 33 | University of Texas at Austin | United States | 8.6 |
| 36 | Tsinghua University | China | 8.4 |
| 37 | Northwestern University | United States | 8.3 |
| 38 | Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) | United States | 7.6 |
| 39 | Pennsylvania State University | United States | 7.5 |
| 40 | University of California, San Diego | United States | 7.2 |
| 41 | Peking University | China | 7.0 |
| 42 | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands | 6.3 |
| 43 | The University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 6.2 |
| 43 | King’s College London | United Kingdom | 6.2 |
| 43 | University of Melbourne | Australia | 6.2 |
| 46 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 6.1 |
| 46 | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | Germany | 6.1 |
| 48 | Purdue University | United States | 6.0 |
| 49 | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne | Switzerland | 5.8 |
| 50 | Osaka University | Japan | 5.7 |
“When it comes to the planet’s most prestigious universities, the U.S. is the undisputed champion of the world, its dominance is quite extraordinary. Its universities take almost half of the top 100 places”, said Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings in a statement.
The reputation rankings when examined closely however reveal an interesting fact. London is able to field more top universities in a single city. A total of six universities in the United Kingdom’s capital secured places in the top 100 ranking.
The 2014 rankings, is based on 10,536 responses from 133 countries to Thomson Reuters 2013 academic reputation survey, carried out in the spring of that year. Respondents are research active scholars publish regularly and have an average of 18 years experience in the higher education field. The institutions from London that are ranked the highest are Imperial college in 13th place, followed by the London School of Economics and University College London. Kings College London is an institution to watch as it sped up to charts, to occupy 43rd place, a massive achievement from number 70.
Overall the United Kingdom, has 10 representatives the top 100, an increase by just one institution from 2013. Looking at the table you can see signs of polarization between the London/Oxford/Cambridge Golden Triangle which is located in the south-east of England and the rest of the United Kingdom where other academic institutions seem to be struggling to find their way. Overall in the United Kingdom, eight out of the 10 academic institutions all come from the Golden Triangle. Proof of this can be seen by the exits of the University of Bristol this year and the University of Leeds and the University of Sheffield in previous years.
The results will solidify London’s growing reputation as a global center for technology, research and higher education. Its universities reputations are only bound to increase. Why? A school’s reputation is important, said Simon Marginson, professor of international higher education, Institute of Education, University of London in a press release.
“A university’s reputation for academic excellence is absolutely vital to its success: it drives student and faculty recruitment, international research partnerships, and helps to attract philanthropy and industrial investment. And while reputation is based on subjective opinion, in this case it is the informed, expert opinion of those in the know: experienced scholars from around the world”.
The infographic below shows movement of universities in the rankings:
images via www.timeshighereducation.co.uk
Hayden Richards is Contributor of IntelligentHQ. He specialises in finance, trading, investment, and technology, with expertise in both buy-side, sell-side. Contributing and advising various global corporations, Hayden is a thought leader, researching on global regulatory subjects, digital, social media strategies and new trends for Businesses, Capital Markets and Financial Services.
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