Rank was determined on each list for every Baltic university ranked on any list. Then for each university all its rank placements were averaged across lists to create the new list of average ranking for each university. The universities were then ranked according to their average ranking. The university with the highest average is thus ranked 1st, the one with the second highest average 2nd, and so on.
Finally, the results were tabled, and are shown above (Figure 1). The leftmost column shows rank based on average, the “institution” column shows the institution ranked, the next four rightward columns (ARWU, QS, THE, USNWR) show the rank for each given institution in each of those selected world rankings, and the rightmost column (“Average World”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.
Only universities which were ranked on at least two lists are counted. Universities which would have appeared had they been ranked by all the rankings are displayed in the ranking where they would have ranked if their average rank was the result of an average across all four rankings. Thus, Estonian University of Life Sciences, for example, is shown between the 3rd and 4th ranked universities, as it would have ranked 4th if it appeared on at least two rankings (and maintained its average from the ranking it did appear on). Rather than receiving a ranking placement, universities appearing in these positions are marked “UR” (unrankable) in the rank column, and “NR” (not ranked) in rankings lists in which they were not ranked.
In my opinion, global university rankings are not a measure of how “good” a university is. They are, centrally, a measure of university reputation among people in administrative positions in academics. How good a university is for you depends on what your goals are. It is almost entirely contextual. Thus, the rankings I do — which are based on average placements in world university rankings — ought to be seen not as a measure of how good a university is, but as a measure of the average opinion of an academic administrator you’ll get if you ask them to talk about a given university from a global perspective. In this spirit, I offer you a deflationary university ranking.
If anything appears to be in error, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) University ๐ซ๐ท
NA
38
44
40
NR
~ 40.67
UR
Karolinska Institute ๐ธ๐ช
NA
42
NR
39
48
43
๐ฅ
Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich ๐ฉ๐ช
–
48
64
32
46
47.5
๐ฅ
Technical University of Munich ๐ฉ๐ช
–
52
50
38
74
53.5
๐ฅ
Heidelberg University ๐ฉ๐ช
–
57
63
42
54
54
4
Sorbonne University ๐ซ๐ท
+1
35
72
88
46
60.25
5
University of Copenhagen ๐ฉ๐ฐ
-1
30
79
96
37
60.5
6
Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven ๐ง๐ช
+1
87
70
42
48
61.75
7
University of Amsterdam ๐ณ๐ฑ
-1
101
55
65
38
64.75
8
Paris-Saclay University ๐ซ๐ท
NA
13
86
117
60
69
9
Utrecht University ๐ณ๐ฑ
-1
50
110
69
48
69.25
UR
Charitรฉ – Universitรคtsmedizin Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช
NA
NR
NR
73
NR
73
10
Leiden University ๐ณ๐ฑ
–
83
112
71
82
87
11
Wageningen University & Research ๐ณ๐ฑ
+2
101
123
53
80
89.25
12
University of Groningen ๐ณ๐ฑ
-1
64
128
80
88
90
UR
Humboldt University of Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช
NA
NR
128
74
78
~ 93.33
13
University of Helsinki ๐ซ๐ฎ
-4
82
104
101
94
95.25
14
Ghent University ๐ง๐ช
-2
71
141
96
92
100
UR
Free University of Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช
NA
NR
127
83
95
~ 101.67
15
Erasmus University Rotterdam ๐ณ๐ฑ
–
101
179
72
62
103.5
16
Aarhus University ๐ฉ๐ฐ
–
71
155
104
103
108.25
17
Uppsala University ๐ธ๐ช
-3
78
124
131
113
111.5
18
Lund University ๐ธ๐ช
-1
151
87
116
95
112.25
19
Delft University of Technology ๐ณ๐ฑ
-1
151
57
75
174
114.25
20
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam๐ณ๐ฑ
–
101
209
115
84
127.25
Figure 1. Ranking of universities in the European Union for the year 2021.
This is a ranking of the top 20 universities in the European Union ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2021.
Overview and methodology
The ranking was created by averaging ranking placements from the four prominent rankings of world universities (each ranking released in 2021): Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), and U.S. News & World Report (USNWR).
Rank was checked on each list for every EU university ranked on each of the lists. Then, for each university, all its rank placements were averaged across lists to create the new list of average ranking for each university. The universities were then ranked according to their average ranking. The university with the highest average is thus ranked 1st, the one with the second highest average 2nd, and so on.
Finally, the results were tabled, as shown above. The leftmost column shows the final rank (which is relative placement based on average rank, i.e.). The next, institution, column shows the institution ranked along with the flag of the country in which it is located. The next, change from 2020, column shows the distance moved for each institution compared to the 2020 ranking. The next four rightward columns (ARWU, QS, THE, USNWR) show the rank for each given institution in each of those selected world rankings, and the rightmost column (โAverage World Rankโ) averages the four ranking listsโ rank placement for each university.
Only universities which were ranked on all four lists are counted. Universities which would have appeared had they been ranked by all the rankings are displayed in the ranking where they would have ranked if their average rank was the result of an average across all four rankings. Thus, for example, Humboldt University of Berlin is shown between the 14th and 15th ranked universities, as it would have ranked 15th if it appeared on all four rankings (and maintained its average from the ranking it did appear on). Rather than receiving a ranking placement, universities appearing in these positions are marked “UR” (unrankable) in the rank column, and “NR” (not ranked) in rankings lists in which they were not ranked.
Observations
German universities take the top three spots (again).
Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) Universitywould have placed 1st. It had roughly the 41st ranking placement in the world; yet it is still unranked by USNWR, and thus does not qualify. See more about this here.
Meanwhile, Karolinska Institute would have placed 2nd, with a 43 average (unranked by QS).
The Netherlands has the most universities appearing in the top 20, with 8. The Nordic countries, together, have 5. Belgium and France each have two. No other countries make the top 20.
Wageningen University & Research advanced the most places compared to any university which made the list in 2020 and 2021, moving up to 11th from 13th.
Paris-Saclay University debuts for the first time in the top 20, at 8. This marks the largest advancement of any university on the list.
University of Helsinki has moved downward the most places compared to last year, moving out of the top 10, to 13th.
Overall, European Union universities have advanced in world university rankings in 2021. Whereas last year ranked EU universities average sum came out to 1768.25 (2020), this year the sum is 1679 (2021) — a roughly 90 place difference upward. One major contributor to this upward movement is the appearance of Paris-Saclay University at #8. Last year, it was not even near the top 20.
The top 14 EU universities all average within the top 100 worldwide.
Just one EU university — LMU Munich — averages within the top 50 worldwide.
THE best predicts the summed average.
QS worst predicts the summed average.
In my opinion, global university rankings are not a measure of how “good” a university is. They are, centrally, a measure of university reputation among people in administrative positions in academics. How good a university is for you depends on what your goals are. It is almost entirely contextual. Thus, the rankings I do — which are based on average placements in world university rankings — ought to be seen not as a measure of how good a university is, but as a measure of the average opinion of an academic administrator you’ll get if you ask them to talk about a given university from a global perspective. In this spirit, I offer you a deflationary university ranking.
*The header image used in the article is, to the best of my knowledge, in the public domain. If this is in error, please let me know and I will remove it immediately. To report errors, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
The proposed flag for the proposed Southern Oregon – Northern California hybrid state Jefferson.
Rank
Institution
Change from 2020
Forbes
THE
USNWR Regional Universities
USNWR Regional Colleges
Relevant Averages
๐ฅ
California State University, Chico
–
151
333
39
โ
242
๐ฅ
Humboldt State University
–
476
501
=30
โ
488.5
๐ฅ
California State University, Stanislaus
NA
354
โ
=30
โ
192
4
Southern Oregon University
–
519
โ
67
โ
293
5
Oregon Institute of Technology
-3*
292
โ
โ
10
NA
6
Simpson University
-1*
NR
โ
88
โ
NA
7
Weimar University
NA
NR
โ
โ
โ
NA
Figure 1. Ranking of Universities in the proposed U.S. state comprising portions of southern Oregon and northern California — the State of Jefferson — for 2021-2022.
This is a ranking of universities in the U.S. proposed-state the State of Jefferson for the year 2021-2022.
.A brief explanation about what constitutes the “State of Jefferson”. The State of Jefferson is a proposed U.S. state that includes northern and central portions of the U.S. state of California and southern portions of the U.S. state of Oregon. If you really want to read about how its proposition came about, Wikipedia is willing to let you do so. I’ll just say the “movement” goes back to 1941, the proposed capital is Yreka, CAโฆ and the state would include 7 universities, as far as I can tell. Drawing the state boundaries is tricky because Jefferson isn’t a state, and people have changed their minds over time about what exactly is or isn’t or should or shouldn’t be included. I have included a map of my interpretation below, at the end of this article (Figure 2.). I took the broadest interpretation of the boundaries (which have changed since last year!), then, I looked for universities in these counties and came up with 7 legitimate universities. There were some other question marks. There are also, of course, many community colleges in Jefferson, but this is a university ranking, and thus, those were excluded. If I have missed a university in this region please let me know and I will update the list once I determine its placement (email: tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com).
The way I decided to rank these universities differs from the usual methodology due to their uneven distribution across various rankings. In the end, the primary determining factor for a university was more a matter of which rankings it appeared on at all. A university’s ranking placement on a given ranking was used more for tie-breaker situations. Thus, many columns look like a bit of a mess. To create the ranking, I drew on the Forbes ranking of U.S. universities, the THE ranking of U.S. universities, and both the USNWR regional university and regional college rankings.
First, I determined ranking placement across all lists for each university listed. I decided that those ranked on the two broader U.S. rankings — the Forbes and THE rankings — would take precedence over universities which did not appear on those rankings. The justification for this move comes from the fact that those two rankings include all U.S. universities, whereas the other ones are merely regional rankings (a university appearing on a national ranking is presumably more substantial than one not appearing on such a ranking). There were only two universities appearing on both the Forbes and THE ranking — Chico State and Humboldt State– so their ranking placements were averaged across those two rankings such that they could be ranked relative to each other. Both universities happened to also be ranked in the USNWR regional universities ranking, and thus their ranking placements on that list are shown as well, but not factored into their averages. Next, universities which appeared on either the Forbes or the THE were considered. No other university which appears on the Forbes ranking also appears on the THE ranking, so the next consideration was the ranking placements on regional lists. I decided to rank those universities on the regional university list higher than those on the regional college list, since the former list includes universities which are broader in scope. Thus, the average was taken between the Forbes placement and the USNWR regional university list to determine relative placement among the relevant universities. Next, the sole university which was ranked on Forbes but not on the regional university list, rather, the regional college list — Oregon Tech — was ranked below those appearing on the Forbes list and the regional university list. It’s average was, thus, irrelevant. Next, there were two universities which appeared on neither the Forbes nor the THE list. However, one of them, Simpson University, appeared on the regional university list, and was thus ranked above the other university, Weimar University — which did not appear on any list and, thus, ranks last.
To some up the order of precedence in terms of (abbreviated with explanation for brevity) steps:
Is the university on Forbes and THE?
If yes, what is its average? Relative to the other universities in this category, this is its rank.
If no, is it on either list? (In this case, whenever the answer was “yes”, that list was Forbes.)
For those on the Forbes ranking, are they on the regional university ranking?
If yes, take the averages and this will determine the ranks among all universities in this category.
If no, are they on the regional college ranking? (In this case, only one was.)
If yes, their rank is now determined.
If it is on neither Forbes nor THE, is it on the regional university ranking? (In this case, only one was.)
If yes, its rank is now determined.
The final university was unranked completely, thus determining its place as last.
This is how I determined the rank of each university. Other methodologies would be acceptable, but I think this one holds up…convoluted as it might seem at first. Another point in favor of this methodology (besides those I described already) is that the outcome looks very similar to the 2020 list, and falls where you would expect (the CSUs taking up the top spots).
The overall results were tabled, and are shown below (Table 1.). The leftmost column shows the final rank, the โinstitutionโ column shows the institution ranked, the change column shows the university position “change “from 2020. The next four rightward columns show the ranking placements for the given lists. The “relevant averages” column shows the averages given the relevant rankings (so, not the average across all rankings the university might appear on, if those ranking placements were not factored in in accordance with the criteria I outlined above). Note that here ‘NA’ means “not applicable” and ‘NR’ means “not ranked”. The โ symbol simply shows that the university in question doesn’t appear on the list in question (and also fits quite harmoniously with the Jefferson seal!).
* There is further explanation to be given for Oregon Tech’s and Simpson’s apparent drops in the rankings. Due to the expanded notion of Jefferson upon which this year’s ranking was based (and as seen in the map below), CSU Stanislaus debuts on the rankings. It ranks higher than Oregon Tech and Simpson this year, which resulted in both Oregon Tech and Simpson moving down 1 position further than they naturally would. Thus, in the “change” column, their movement downward is artificially inflated compared to last year. Simpson falls — relative to the universities ranked last year — in the same spot as it did last year. Meanwhile, Oregon Tech has indeed moved downward, but only 2 spots relative to the universities ranked last year, rather than 3. Thus, this clarification.
A separate, final question: what would these universities be called in the State of Jefferson? Perhaps the obvious: Jefferson State University, Chico, Jefferson Institute of Technology, etc. And Southern Oregon University would “move” northward to become Northern Jefferson University!
Figure 2. The U.S. proposed-state, the State of Jefferson, within the context of the U.S. This map includes counties variously assigned as part of the proposed state between the years 1941 and 2021.
If you should find anything to be in error, please contact me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
Rank was determined on each list for every Finnish university ranked on any list. Then for each university all its rank placements were averaged across lists to create the new list of average ranking for each university. The universities were then ranked according to their average ranking. The university with the highest average is thus ranked 1st, the one with the second highest average 2nd, and so on.
Finally, the results were tabled, and are shown above (Figure 1). The leftmost column shows rank based on average, the “institution” column shows the institution ranked, the “Change from 2020” column shows the change in ranking placement from last year’s ranking, the next four rightward columns (ARWU, QS, THE, USNWR) show the rank for each given institution in each of those selected world rankings, and the rightmost column (“Average World”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.
Only universities which were ranked on at least two lists are counted. Universities which would have appeared had they been ranked by all the rankings are displayed in the ranking where they would have ranked if their average rank was the result of an average across all four rankings. Thus, University of Vaasa is shown between the 5th and 6th ranked universities, as it would have ranked 6th if it appeared on at least two rankings (and maintained its average from the ranking it did appear on). Rather than receiving a ranking placement, universities appearing in these positions (in this case, only Vaasa) are marked “UR” (unrankable) in the rank column, and “NR” (not ranked) in rankings lists in which they were not ranked.
Observations
Overall, Finnish universities have advanced in world university rankings in 2021. Whereas last year ranked Finnish universities average sum came out to 3697.5 (2020), this year the sum is ~3593.58 (2021) — a roughly 104 place difference upward. In addition, University of Vaasa appears on one of this year’s ranking lists, whereas last year it was unranked across lists.
Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology was the biggest gainer, moving from 575.5 to approx. 433.33 — a gain of about 142 places.
Another indicator of the success of Finnish universities is seen in University of Oulu taking over the 4th spot from Tampere University. Tampere University’sseeming downward movement is actually merely because University of Oulu hasimproved more quickly: both universities have made significant advances in the rankings. University of Oulu moved upward from 415.75 to 362.75 (+53), and meanwhile, Tampere University moved upward from 393 to 380 (+13). Thus, Oulu moved ahead of Tampere in the Finnish rankings, but both universities moved upward in the world rankings.
Aalto University has continued to improved as well, moving from 248.25 to 222.25. It could well become a top-200 staple in a few years’ time.
In a negative point for Finnish universities, Finland’s traditionally strongest university — the University of Helsinki — continues to move downward in world university rankings. This continues a trend starting in 2015 or so. This year it moved downward from 90.5 to 95.25. It is unclear if it will maintain top-100 status for much longer.
In my opinion, global university rankings are not a measure of how “good” a university is. They are, centrally, a measure of university reputation among people in administrative positions in academics. How good a university is for you depends on what your goals are. It is almost entirely contextual. Thus, the rankings I do — which are based on average placements in world university rankings — ought to be seen not as a measure of how good a university is, but as a measure of the average opinion of an academic administrator you’ll get if you ask them to talk about a given university from a global perspective. In this spirit, I offer you a deflationary university ranking.
If anything appears to be in error, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
Rank was determined on each list for every Nordic university ranked on each list. If a ranking used a range, the highest possible rank was chosen (e.g., if a university was ranked within a 201-250 bracket, 201 was chosen). Then for each university all its rank placements were averaged across lists to create the new list of average ranking for each university. The universities were then ranked according to their average ranking. The university with the highest average is thus ranked 1st, the one with the second highest average 2nd, and so on.
Finally, the results were tabled, and are shown above (Figure 1). The leftmost column shows rank based on average, the “institution” column shows the institution ranked, the “Change from 2020” column shows the change in ranking placement from last year’s ranking (Ranking of Nordic Universities, 2020), the next four rightward columns (ARWU, QS, THE, USNWR) show the rank for each given institution in each of those selected world rankings, and the rightmost column (“Average World”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.
Only universities which were ranked on all four lists are counted. Universities which would have appeared had they been ranked by all the rankings are displayed in the ranking where they would have ranked if their average rank was the result of an average across all four rankings. Thus, for example, Karolinska Institute is shown above the #1 ranked University of Copenhagen, as it would have ranked #1 if it appeared on all four rankings (and maintained its average from the rankings it did appear on). Rather than receiving a ranking placement, universities appearing in these positions are marked “UR” (unrankable) in the rank column, and “NR” (not ranked) in rankings lists in which they were not ranked.
Observations
ARWU best predicts the summed average.
QS worst predicts the summed average.
In my opinion, global university rankings are not a measure of how “good” a university is. They are, centrally, a measure of university reputation among people in administrative positions in academics. How good a university is for you depends on what your goals are. It is almost entirely contextual. Thus, the rankings I do — which are based on average placements in world university rankings — ought to be seen not as a measure of how good a university is, but as a measure of the average opinion of an academic administrator you’ll get if you ask them to talk about a given university from a global perspective. In this spirit, I offer you a deflationary university ranking.
If anything appears to be in error, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
On my most recent rankings โ Ranking of Universities in the EU โ again appeared the mysterious case of U.S. News‘s lack of a ranking placement for France’s PSL University. PSL ranks very highly on the other three notable world rankings โ ARWU, QS, and THE: as I noted in the ranking of EU universities, PSL averages approximately 45th in the world among those three rankings. This average is higher than any other university on the EU ranking (and below only the QS-unranked Karolinska Institute). However, in this article I am going to give an estimate of where USNWR would rank PSL.
PSL University is brand new, technically. It was only formally established as a university in 2019. Its constituents, however, are older โ in some cases much, much older. It seems to be these constituents that cause trouble for USNWR, with regard to ranking. USNWR does not seem to realize that these various constituent colleges โ which have existed separately for many years โ are now, in fact, a single entity. This can be inferred from the fact that USNWR ranks some of these various constituent colleges of PSL. It is these ranking of the individual colleges from which I’ll now construct an averaged, would-be ranking for USNWR. Then, I’ll look at how that fits in with the average we get from the other three rankings. Finally, I’ll see how it squares away with the overall EU rankings.
1. Creating an average ranking of PSL constituents
So what do we get? (252+402+499+1209+1209) / 5 = 714.2 = ~714
Thus, the best we can estimate from the available data is that USNWR would rank PSL around 714 in the world. My hunch is that USNWR would rank PSL โ considered as one institution โ significantly higher ala the other three rankings. For example, weaknesses in a certain faculty area at one constituent could be expected to be strengthened by another constituent. Along these lines, we should probably expect that these constituents combined would strengthen each other in greater proportion than they would weaken each other. This means that their average undervalues their would-be (and actually-is) collective strength. Further evidence for this is given by the fact that all the other rankings put PSL in or nearly-in the top 50 in the world. However, the above averaging is all we have to go on with regard to USNWR (since we cannot replicate their entire methodology), and despite being far-from-satisfactory, it’s better than what USNWR actually has to offer us in this regard (which is, again, no ranking).
These together give us the average of 44.6666666667, or, ~45.
And how about with our estimate for USNWR? โ Well, then we get 212.05, or, ~ 212.
Thus, PSL University’s average across three rankings + USNWR’s average for its ranked constituents = ~212.
3. How PSL compares to the top 20 universities in the EU, given the above
Given PSL’s average of approximately 212, this puts it well outside the top 20 universities in the EU. Currently, the university placing 20th is VU Amsterdam, with an average ranking of 133.25. If the trend of EU-university-worldwide-average continued roughly as it does between 0 and 134 (the interval in which roughly 20 universities place), then we can probably assume PSL places somewhere in the top 50 EU universities โ even with an abysmal-by-comparison USNWR placement.
In conclusion, I think the average USNWR rank of PSL constituents is curious. The consistency with which other rankings place PSL at or around the top 50 makes the ~714 average highly suspect. Yes, we don’t have a full picture because not all constituents are ranked, but this is actually more concerning. That’s because the constituents not making the ranking suggests USNWR considers them as not-as-good-as those universities which did make the ranking. Thus, these unranked constituents would likely weigh down an overall PSL rank in a not insignificant way. That said, I also speculated that the constituents that are ranked could โ when taken together โ end up strengthening each disproportionate to their weaknesses. This would bump up the ranking above the average.
So in the end, I still wish USNWR would just rank PSL University outright so that we can get a better picture of how EU universities stack up.
This is a ranking of the top 20 universities in the European Union ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2020-2021.
The ranking was created by using metadata sourced from the four prominent rankings of world universities (each ranking released in 2020): Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), and U.S. News & World Report (USNWR).
Rank was checked on each list for every EU university ranked on each of the lists. Then, for each university, all its rank placements were averaged across lists to create the new list of average ranking for each university. The universities were then ranked according to their average ranking. The university with the highest average is thus ranked 1st, the one with the second highest average 2nd, and so on.
Finally, the results were tabled, as shown above. The leftmost column shows the final rank (which is relative placement based on average rank, i.e.), the โinstitutionโ column shows the institution ranked along with the flag of the country in which it is located, the next four rightward columns (ARWU, QS, THE, USNWR) show the rank for each given institution in each of those selected world rankings, and the rightmost column (โAverage World Rankโ) averages the four ranking listsโ rank placement for each university.
There were 4 institutions which were ranked on three of the four lists which averaged higher (by those three lists) than at least one university which was ranked having been averaged by all four lists. In some cases, had these averages remained given all four lists, the list would look significantly different. Further details:
Karolinska Institute ๐ธ๐ช (43 average; unranked by QS) would have placed 1st.
Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL) ๐ซ๐ท (~45 average; unranked USNWR) would have placed 2nd (counting Karolinska). (UPDATE: see * below for further evaluation.)
Humboldt University of Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช (93 average; unranked by ARWU โ find further discussion about why that is here) would have placed 14 (counting Karolinska and PSL).
Free University of Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช (~120 average; unranked by ARWU โ find further discussion about why that is via the same link as for Humboldt) would not have placed in the top 20 counting the three institutions above, however, its average is higher than those universities currently placing 19th and 20th (Freiburg and VU Amsterdam, respectively).
Additionally, one institution โ Charitรฉ – Universitรคtsmedizin Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช โ was ranked such that it would have appeared in the top 20 (given the above additions: 10th), however, this was only based on its placement of 75 on a single ranking (THE).
Finally, some observations about the final ranking โ
Netherlands has the most intuitions in the top 20 in the EU, with 8.
Germany has the second most, with 4, and the Nordic countries together have 5.
Belgium and France are the only two countries with at least one university which makes the list outside of the aforementioned regions.
The top 12 universities in the EU all average within the top 100 in the world.
If anything appears to be in error, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
* Since creating this list I’ve written an article looking at how USNWR ranks PSL constituents. Ultimately, based on the average of those constituents, PSL’s ranking would place outside the 20 appearing on this list. There are many caveats to this outcome, however. The full article can be found here.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne(EPFL) ๐จ๐ญ
83
14
43
58
49.5
17=
University of Queensland๐ฆ๐บ
54
46
62
36
49.5
19
McGill University ๐จ๐ฆ
78
31
40
51
50
20=
Heidelberg University ๐ฉ๐ช
57
64
42
54
54.25
20=
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ๐บ๐ธ
30
95
56
36
54.25
22=
Australian National University๐ฆ๐บ
67
31
59
64
55.25
22=
Technical University of Munich ๐ฉ๐ช
54
50
41
76
55.25
24
University of Copenhagen ๐ฉ๐ฐ
33
76
84
34
56.75
25
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ๐บ๐ธ
45
82
48
60
58.75
26
University of New South Wales ๐ฆ๐บ
74
44
67
51
59
27
Kyoto University ๐ฏ๐ต
34
38
54
125
62.75
28=
Monash University ๐ฆ๐บ
85
55
64
48
63
28=
Sorbonne University ๐ซ๐ท
39
83
87
43
63
30
University of Zรผrich ๐จ๐ญ
56
69
73
62
65
31
University of Amsterdam ๐ณ๐ฑ
101
61
66
40
67
32
Georgia Institute of Technology ๐บ๐ธ
101
80
38
66
71.25
33=
Chinese University of Hong Kong ๐ญ๐ฐ
101
43
56
95
73.75
33=
University of Hong Kong ๐ญ๐ฐ
151
22
39
83
73.75
35
Utrecht University ๐ณ๐ฑ
52
121
75
54
75.5
36
University of California, Santa Barbara ๐บ๐ธ
49
152
68
56
81.25
37
Seoul National University ๐ฐ๐ท
101
37
60
129
81.75
38
Shanghai Jiao Tong University ๐จ๐ณ
63
47
100
122
83
39
University of California,Davis ๐บ๐ธ
91
112
64
66
83.25
40
Ohio State University ๐บ๐ธ
101
108
80
45
83.5
41
Purdue University ๐บ๐ธ
79
109
94
53
83.75
42
Zhejiang University ๐จ๐ณ
58
53
94
135
85
43
University of Minnesota ๐บ๐ธ
40
177
85
47
87.25
44
University of Maryland, College Park ๐บ๐ธ
53
152
90
60
88.75
45
University of Helsinki ๐ซ๐ฎ
74
104
98
86
90.5
46=
Fudan University ๐จ๐ณ
100
34
70
160
91
46=
Leiden University ๐ณ๐ฑ
80
128
70
86
91
48
University of Groningen ๐ณ๐ฑ
69
128
80
92
92.25
49
University of Science and Technology of China ๐จ๐ณ
73
93
87
124
94.25
50
Ghent University ๐ง๐ช
66
135
103
85
97.25
This is a ranking of the top 50 public universities in the world ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2020-2021. A “public university” is a university which is (1) publicly funded and (2) publicly owned. Thus, for example, no U.K. universities are eligible for this list.
The ranking was created by using metadata sourced from the four prominent rankings of world universities (each ranking released in 2020): Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), and U.S. News & World Report (USNWR).
Rank was checked on each list for every public university in the world ranked on each of the lists. Then, for each university, all its rank placements were averaged across lists to create the new list of average ranking for each university. The universities were then ranked according to their average ranking. The university with the highest average is thus ranked 1st, the one with the second highest average 2nd, and so on.
Finally, the results were tabled, as shown above. The leftmost column shows the final relative placement (relative placement based on average rank, i.e.), the โinstitutionโ column shows the institution ranked along with the flag of the country in which it is located, the next four rightward columns (ARWU, QS, THE, USNWR) show the rank for each given institution in each of those selected world rankings, and the rightmost column (โAverage World Rankโ) averages the four ranking listsโ rank placement for each university.ย
Some observations โ
All of the top 50 public universities in the world rank on average within the top 100 universities โ public or private โ in the world.
There are 14 countries represented on the list.
The 1st most represented region is North America, with 19 universities.
The 2nd most represented region is Europe, with 14 universities.
The 3rd most represented region is Asia, with 11 universities.
The 4th most represented region is Oceania, with 6 universities.
The 1st most represented country overall is the U.S., with 16 universities.
The 2nd most represented countries overall are Australia and China, each with 6 universities.
The 3rd most represented country overall is the Netherlands, with 4 universities.
The next most represented countries are in order as follows: Canada and Switzerland (each with 3), Hong Kong and Japan (each with 2), and Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, and South Korea (each with 1).
The most represented countries within the top 10 are the U.S. (with 5) and China (with 2).
The list which best predicts the summed average is USNWR.
The list which worst predicts the summed average is QS.
If anything appears to be in error, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
The proposed flag for the proposed Southern Oregon – Northern California hybrid state Jefferson.
This is a ranking of universities in the U.S. proposed-state the State of Jefferson for the year 2020-2021.
A brief explanation about what constitutes the “State of Jefferson”. The State of Jefferson is a proposed U.S. state that includes northern and central portions of the U.S. state of California and southern portions of the U.S. state of Oregon. If you really want to read about how its proposition came about, Wikipedia is willing to let you do so. I’ll just say the “movement” goes back to 1941, the proposed capital is Yreka, CAโฆ and the state would include 5 universities, as far as I can tell. Drawing the state boundaries is tricky because Jefferson isn’t a state, and people have changed their minds over time about what exactly is or isn’t or should or shouldn’t be included. I took the broadest interpretation of the boundaries which โ [again,] so far as I can tell โ stretch up as far north as Douglas county in Oregon and down as far south as El Dorado in California (according to this map). Then, I looked for universities in these counties and came up with 5 legitimate universities. There were some other question marks. There are also, of course, many community colleges in Jefferson, but this is a university ranking, and thus, those were excluded. If I have missed a university in this region please let me know and I will update the list once I determine its placement (email: tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com).
The ranking was created primarily by referencing the ranking placements of every (identified) university in Jefferson ranked by USNWR ranking Regional Universities West. Additionally, due to the anomalous situation with Oregon Tech, two other rankings were used: USNWR’s Regional Colleges West, and THE’s ranking of universities in the U.S. The situation is as follows: Oregon Tech is classified as a college by USNWR, and thus ranked on their college ranking and not their university ranking. This makes its placement incomparable to those universities ranked by USNWR’s university ranking. So, to situate it with respect to the other universities, I referenced THE’s ranking of universities in the U.S. THE ranks Oregon Tech as tied with Humboldt State (both below Chico State). THE does not rank either SOU or Simpson. However, THE did rank SOU in 2019 โ and its ranking then (>800th) is lower than Oregon Tech’s now (501 – 600). This information โ combined with SOU’s absence from THE’s 2021 list โ has led me to make the judgement that the ranking for Oregon Tech should follow Humboldt State’s on THE. However, there is no ranking to break the tie between Humboldt State and Oregon Tech โ both place well on their respective USNWR rankings, and tie each other on THE. So, this explains their placement on my Jefferson ranking.
The overall results were tabled, and are shown below (Table 1.). The leftmost column shows the final rank, the โinstitutionโ column shows the institution ranked, and the next three rightward columns show the rank for each given institution in each selected ranking. Note that here ‘NA’ means “not applicable” and ‘NR’ means “not ranked”.
If you should find anything to be in error, please contact me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
This is a list of the highest ranking achieved for every university ranked in the top 100 in the world on any of the four prominent world university rankings (ARWU, QS, THE, and USNWR, i.e.). Thus, so long as a university appears on any one of the four rankings, then it appears on this list โ and it appears at whichever spot it ranked highest on any one or more of those lists. You can think of this list in the following way: for each given university, its position on this list represents the highest opinion someone holds of it.
Notes โ
In total, 154 universities representing 27 countries are ranked within the top 100 in the world between all four lists.
There are 16 top 10 universities, representing 3 countries which are (in order): the US (with 11 โ 3 of which are Californian; 2 of which are Massachusettsan), the UK (with 4 โ all of which are English), and Switzerland (with 1).
There are 30 top 20 universities, representing 7 countries which are (in order): the US (with 18 โ 6 of which are Californian), the UK (with 5 โ 4 of which are English; 1 of which is Scottish), Singapore and Switzerland (each with 2), and Canada, China, and France (each with 1).
There are 78 top 50 universities, representing 17 countries which are (in order): the US (with 34 – 7 of which are Californian), the UK (with 8 โ 7 of which are English; 1 of which is Scottish), Australia (with 6), China and Hong Kong (each with 4), Canada and Germany (each with 3), France, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland (each with 2), and Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden (each with 1).
The United States is the 1st most represented country, with 51 universities represented (~33%).
The United Kingdom is the 2nd most represented country, with 18 universities (15 of which are English; 3 of which are Scottish) represented (~12%).
The Netherlands is the 3rd most represented country, with 9 universities represented (~6%).
The countries placing 4th – 8th in representation are (in order): Australia (with 8), Germany (with 7), China and Japan (each with 6), Canada, Hong Kong, and Sweden (each with 5).
There are 32 listed universities outside the western world (~21%).
Universities represent 5 continents.
And finally, some thoughts. It is interesting to note that 15 out of 18 ranked UK universities are highest ranked by QS โ a UK-based ranking. This means, if nothing stronger, that QS has the highest opinion of British universities of any of the four prominent rankings. True โ someone could object and say that whichever ranking truly has the highest opinion of British universities lists the greatest number of British universities, or has the highest average ranking of British universities, etc. But I think what captures the spirit of these lists is highest rank, and when you talk about highest rank, and look up a university to check its rank, the fact is, when its a UK university, QS will tell you that university is ranked more highly than any other ranking would tell you in ranks a large majority of the time. I might also endorse this stronger claim: QS has a bias for British universities. But this would require a more in-depth look at how it ranks universities in other countries, and also how other rankings rank British universities compared to other countries, etc., and I haven’t looked into it that deeply or in a sufficiently comparative way to fully endorse that claim. But nonetheless, this result is certainly suggestive, and looking for other indicators even superficially shows that a good number of the British universities ranked within the top 100 by QS don’t appear at all in other top 100s. This is definitely something that someone can and should look at further (and perhaps they have).
Along the same lines, 23 out of 27 East and Southeast Asian universities are highest ranked by QS (along with one additional such university ranked equally by THE). Thus, we can again conclude (as above) that QS has the highest opinion of universities in those regions. It’s still not strong enough for bias โ but as with the above observation, this is suggestive and someone might be inclined to take a look.
Meanwhile, out of 47 U.S. universities which are highest ranked by only one ranking (i.e., for which there is no shared opinion about its highest placement), only 5 are highest ranked by QS. Meanwhile, ARWU accounts for 18 such rankings, USNWR 15, and THE 9. Thus, we can safely conclude that QS has the lowest opinion of U.S. universities of the four rankings. THE โ at 9 โ is closer to QS than to USNWR, but just barely. It’s clear that the UK rankings (QS and THE) have a lower opinion of U.S. universities than the Chinese (ARWU) and U.S. (USNWR) rankings.
To sum up:
QS has the highest opinion of British and East and Southeast Asian universities, and the lowest opinion of U.S. universities.
USNWR has the highest opinion of Australian universities.
And the strongest conclusion: British rankings (QS, THE) have a lower opinion of U.S. universities than Chinese and U.S. rankings (ARWU, USNWR) do.
Below you can view the list. If you should find something here is in error, please contact me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.
Rank
Institution
1
Harvard University ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU, USNWR) Massachusetts Institute of Technology ๐บ๐ธ (QS) University of Oxford ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (THE)
2
Stanford University ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU, QS, THE)
3
University of Cambridge ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (ARWU)
4
California Institute of Technology ๐บ๐ธ (QS) University of California, Berkeley ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
5
–
6
Columbia University ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR) ETH Zรผrich ๐จ๐ญ(QS) Princeton University ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
7
–
8
Imperial College London ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS) University of Washington ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR) Yale University ๐บ๐ธ (THE)
9
University of Chicago ๐บ๐ธ (QS)
10
Johns Hopkins University ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR) University College London ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS)
11
National University of Singapore ๐ธ๐ฌ (QS)
12
Cornell University ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
13
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore ๐ธ๐ฌ (QS) University of California, Los Angeles ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU, USNWR) University of Pennsylvania ๐บ๐ธ (THE)
14
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne ๐จ๐ญ(QS) University of Paris-Saclay ๐ซ๐ท (ARWU)
15
Tsinghua University ๐จ๐ณ (QS) University of California, San Fransisco ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
16
–
17
University of Michigan, Ann-Arbor ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR) University of Toronto ๐จ๐ฆ (USNWR)
18
University of California, San Diego ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
19
–
20
Duke University ๐บ๐ธ (THE) University of Edinburgh ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ (QS)
21
–
22
University of Hong Kong ๐ญ๐ฐ (QS)
23
Peking University ๐จ๐ณ (QS, THE) Washington University in St. Louis ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
24
Northwestern University ๐บ๐ธ (THE, USNWR) University of Tokyo ๐ฏ๐ต (QS)
25
University of Melbourne ๐ฆ๐บ (USNWR)
26
New York University ๐บ๐ธ (THE)
27
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ๐ญ๐ฐ (QS) London School of Economics ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (THE) University of Manchester ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS) University of Sydney ๐ฆ๐บ (USNWR)
28
Carnegie Mellon University ๐บ๐ธ (THE)
29
–
30
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
31
Australian National University ๐ฆ๐บ (QS) King’s College London ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS) McGill University ๐จ๐ฆ (QS) University of British Columbia ๐จ๐ฆ (USNWR)
32
LMU Munich ๐ฉ๐ช (THE) University of Wisconsin-Madison ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
33
University of Copenhagen ๐ฉ๐ฐ (ARWU)
34
Fudan University ๐จ๐ณ (QS) Kyoto University ๐ฏ๐ต (ARWU)
35
–
36
Karolinska Institute ๐ธ๐ช (THE) Paris Sciences et Lettres University ๐ซ๐ท (ARWU) University of Queensland ๐ฆ๐บ (USNWR)
37
Seoul National University ๐ฐ๐ท (QS)
38
Georgia Institute of Technology ๐บ๐ธ (THE) University of Texas at Austin ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
39
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology ๐ฐ๐ท (QS) Sorbonne University ๐ซ๐ท (ARWU)
40
University of Amsterdam ๐ณ๐ฑ (USNWR) University of Minnesota ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
41
Technical University of Munich ๐ฉ๐ช (THE)
42
Heidelberg University ๐ฉ๐ช (THE) King Abdulaziz University ๐ธ๐ฆ (USNWR)
43
Chinese University of Hong Kong ๐ญ๐ฐ (QS) Rockefeller University ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU) University of Pittsburgh ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
44
University of Colorado at Boulder ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU) University of New South Wales ๐ฆ๐บ (QS)
45
Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) ๐ง๐ช (THE) Ohio State University ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
46
–
47
Shanghai Jiao Tong University ๐จ๐ณ (QS)
48
City University of Hong Kong ๐ญ๐ฐ (QS) Monash University ๐ฆ๐บ (USNWR) University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
49
University of California, Santa Barbara ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
50
–
51
–
52
Utrecht University ๐ณ๐ฑ (ARWU)
53
University of Maryland, College Park ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU) University of Southern California ๐บ๐ธ (THE) Zhejiang University ๐จ๐ณ (QS)
54
Boston University ๐บ๐ธ (THE)
55
–
56
Tokyo Institute of Technology ๐ฏ๐ต (QS) University of Zรผrich ๐จ๐ญ (ARWU)
57
Delft University of Technology ๐ณ๐ฑ (QS)
58
University of Bristol ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS)
59
University of Geneva ๐จ๐ญ (ARWU) University of Malaya ๐ฒ๐พ (QS)
60
Brown University ๐บ๐ธ (QS) University of Oslo ๐ณ๐ด (ARWU)
61
รcole Polytechnique ๐ซ๐ท (QS)
62
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR) University of Warwick ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS) Vanderbilt University ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU) Wageningen University and Research ๐ณ๐ฑ (THE)
63
–
64
University of California, Davis ๐บ๐ธ (THE)
65
University of Paris ๐ซ๐ท (ARWU)
66
Ghent University ๐ง๐ช (ARWU) National Taiwan University ๐น๐ผ (QS) University of Buenos Aires ๐ฆ๐ท (QS)
67
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU)
68
Erasmus University Rotterdam ๐ณ๐ฑ (USNWR)
69
Aarhus University ๐ฉ๐ฐ (ARWU) Korea University ๐ฐ๐ท (QS) McMaster University ๐จ๐ฆ (THE) Stockholm University ๐ธ๐ช (ARWU) University of California, Irvine ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU) University of Groningen ๐ณ๐ฑ (ARWU)
70
Leiden University ๐ณ๐ฑ (THE)
71
Emory University ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
72
Osaka University ๐ฏ๐ต (QS)
73
University of Adelaide ๐ฆ๐บ (USNWR) University of Montreal ๐จ๐ฆ (THE) University of Science and Technology of China ๐จ๐ณ (ARWU)
74
Lomonosov Moscow State University ๐ท๐บ (QS) University of Helsinki ๐ซ๐ฎ (ARWU)
75
Charitรฉ – Universitรคtsmedizin Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช (THE) Hong Kong Polytechnic University ๐ญ๐ฐ (QS) Pennsylvania State University ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
76
–
77
Pohang University of Science and Technology ๐ฐ๐ท (QS) University of Glasgow ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ (QS) Uppsala University ๐ธ๐ช (ARWU)
78
University of Tรผbingen ๐ณ๐ฑ (THE)
79
Purdue University ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU) Tohoku University ๐ฏ๐ต (QS) University of Western Australia ๐ฆ๐บ (USNWR)
80
Humboldt University of Berlin ๐ฉ๐ช (THE) Vrije UniversiteitAmsterdam ๐ณ๐ฑ (USNWR)
81
University of Auckland ๐ณ๐ฟ (QS) University of California, Santa Cruz ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
82
–
83
Nagoya University ๐ฏ๐ต (ARWU) University of Freiburg ๐ฉ๐ช (THE)
84
–
85
Yonsei University ๐ฐ๐ท (QS)
86
Durham University ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS)
87
University of Birmingham ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS) University of Bonn ๐ฉ๐ช (ARWU)
88
University of Basel ๐จ๐ญ (ARWU) University of Florida ๐บ๐ธ (ARWU) Sungkyunkwan University ๐ฐ๐ท (QS)
89
Rice University ๐บ๐ธ (QS)
90
University of Barcelona ๐ช๐ธ (USNWR) University of Southampton ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS)
91
University of Leeds ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS)
92
–
93
University of Sheffield ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS) Weizmann Institute of Science ๐ฎ๐ฑ (ARWU)
94
–
95
–
96
University of St. Andrews ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ (QS)
97
Lund University ๐ธ๐ช (QS) University of Arizona ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR)
98
KTH Royal Institute of Technology ๐ธ๐ช (QS)
99
Universitรฉ Grenoble Alpes ๐ซ๐ท (ARWU) University of Nottingham ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ (QS)
100
Michigan State University ๐บ๐ธ (USNWR) Universidad Nacional Autรณnoma de Mรฉxico ๐ฒ๐ฝ (QS)
S.N. McGannon 