What We Know About THE Rankings 2020?

Oxford keeps the 1st position, Asia and Australia become more competitive.

THE World University Rankings released by the authoritative British magazine Times Higher Education presented the new results of the world’s top universities. In total it analyzed more than 1300 institutions around the globe. It’s published on the official portal of the project. In 2020 edition European and Northern American universities maintained their dominance in this field, Australia hit its record, while Asian universities became highly competitive.

The journal has placed Oxford University in the first position for the fourth time in a row which hasn’t become a big surprise. Other British universities that were ranked in the top 10 are Cambridge University (#3) and Imperial College London (#10). All other positions in the top 10 were held by American universities: California Institute of Technology (#2), Stanford University (#4), MIT (#5), Princeton University (#6), Harvard University (#7), University of Yale (#8), University of Chicago (#9).

Europe became first as the region with the largest number of universities among the top 200. Almost half of the positions are taken by European universities. Top performing countries of the Old World are the UK (28/200), Germany (23/200) and the Netherlands (11/200).

Meanwhile, the USA became first among countries with most universities among the same top 200. As THE reports, in 2020 the US has 60 universities in the top 200. Neighbor of the USA, Canada, has 7 top-ranking institutions here with its leading institution the University of Toronto placed #18. This means that more than ⅘ of the top 200 are European and Northern American institutions. Crazy score!

As in many other sectors, the Asian region is becoming a serious player in education and challenges its Western partners. 13 Chinese universities took their place among the top 200, which makes “Tianxia” the fourth most represented country in this list. China’s best institution, Tsinghua University, has significantly raised its performance since 2011 and took 23rd position. Other Asian countries represented here are South Korea with its 6 universities, Japan (2/200) and tiny Singapore (2/200).

Another country that has shown progress was Australia. Australia has managed to enhance its research funding this year and as a result, it has 11 higher institutions in the top 200 compared with 9 last year, which is a new record for Aussies. 19 Australian institutions have advanced their results, which is a brilliant result. Australia’s flagship institution, University of Melbourne, is ranked #32 this year.

What can be inferred from THE World University Rankings 2020? While European and North American institutions majorly maintain their positions, relatively young Asian fighters together with Australia are becoming more stiff competitors. It means that in future rankings we’ll see more challenging competition that’s always good for potential clients.

If you’re the one, who’s interested in having experience in studying abroad, please check Aplic.io and apply it to the best higher education institutions around the world. See you there! Your success is our mission!