TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION PUBLISHES 2014 WORLD REPUTATION RANKINGS
Key Asian institutions make strong progress in the list of the world’s 100 most prestigious universities
US confirms supremacy as it takes eight of the top 10 positions and 46 of the top 100 – with Harvard University, MIT and
Stanford University claiming the top three spots
Japan remains Asia’s leading nation in the prestige stakes, but the University of Tokyo falls out of the top 10 for the
first time since the rankings were established
Worrying evidence of reputational decline among UK institutions
Six Anglo-American “super-brands” continue to stand apart from pack – but the gap closes
Seoul National University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are identified as rising stars in the
world’s biggest academic reputation survey
Australia takes a hit in the global index of academic prestige
Poor performance by France and Sweden; disappointment for Brazil
Russia’s flagship university slips out of the top 50
SEE BELOW FOR THE FOLLOWING:
• ANALYSIS AND KEY FACTS
• QUOTES FROM PHIL BATY, EDITOR, TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION RANKINGS
• FULL TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD REPUTATION RANKINGS RESULTS
• COUNTRY REPRESENTATION IN WORLD TOP 100
Times Higher Education magazine today publishes its 2014 World Reputation Rankings – the definitive list of the world’s 100 most prestigious
universities, based on the largest invitation-only survey of senior academics.
A strong global reputation is essential to university success, allowing institutions to attract staff, students,
business investment, research partners and benefactions in a highly competitive world market.
The 2014 rankings have again highlighted an elite group of six US and UK “super-brands” that stands head and shoulders
above the rest: Harvard University in first place, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in second, Stanford
University third, the University of Cambridge fourth, the University of Oxford fifth and the University of California,
Berkeley sixth.
But the US has strengthened its grip on the tables: Stanford’s rise of three places from sixth last year pushes Oxford
and Cambridge down a place each. And the California Institute of Technology’s rise (up two places to ninth) displaces
the University of Tokyo from the top 10, the first time it has failed to secure a spot since the reputation rankings
were established in 2011.
Overall, the US is the undisputed superpower when it comes to university brands, and it is gaining in strength. It takes
the top three places, eight of the top 10 (up from seven last year) and 46 of the top 100 (up from 43 in 2013). Of those
46 institutions, only 14 have lost ground.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Australia loses ground. It now has five top 100 representatives, down from six in 2013:
Monash University, which scraped in last year, loses out after a small drop in performance. Only one Australian
institution, the University of Melbourne (down four places to joint 43rd), remains in the top 50 compared with three
last year, although the country’s performance has remained largely stable since the survey began in 2011.
Asia’s strongest performer by a distance is Japan, with five top 100 representatives. While its flagship, Tokyo, exits
the top 10, its peers do better: Kyoto University makes the top 20, Osaka University enters the top 50 and the Tokyo
Institute of Technology rises from 61-70 to 51-60.
China and the special administrative region of Hong Kong have had a mixed year. China’s top institution, Tsinghua
University, slips one place to 36th, while Peking University climbs four places to 41st. While Hong Kong’s
highest-placed representative, Hong KongUniversity, falls from 36th to joint 43rd, the Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology rises a band to 51-60, edging closer to the top 50 after starting in the 91-100 band in 2011.
South Korea has done well this year, gaining an extra representative, Yonsei University, which jumps straight into the
81-90 band. Meanwhile, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology moves from 61-70 to 51-60 while the
country’s flagship, SeoulNational University, becomes Asia’s biggest riser, leaping from 41st to 26th.
The National University of Singapore continues its steady year-on-year progress, rising from 27th in the first exercise
in 2011 to 21st this year. Meanwhile, Singapore’s other player, Nanyang Technological University, slips into the 91-100
band.
Taiwan’s sole representative, National Taiwan University, maintains its place in the 51-60 band.
After the US, the UK has the most top 100 representatives: 10, up from nine last year. However, its overall showing has
worsened since 2011, when it had 12 representatives. The data also reveal a worrying polarisation between the “golden
triangle” (London,Oxford and Cambridge) and the rest of the UK.
In representative terms, the US and the UK are followed by Germany, which gains a top 100 entrant, RWTH Aachen
University (joining the 91-100 group), giving it six institutions in the rankings. Germany’s fortunes contrast
dramatically with France’s. Two French institutions fall out of the top 100 (Université Paris-Sud and École Polytechnique), leaving the country with just two representatives.
Russia, meanwhile, loses its foothold in the top 50: its only representative, Lomonosov Moscow State University, falls
into the 51-60 band.
In total, 20 countries are represented.
The World Reputation Rankings are part of the portfolio of league tables that has established Times Higher Education as the most respected provider of comparative global higher education performance data. They are based on a global
invitation-only opinion poll carried out by Ipsos MediaCT for Times Higher Education’s rankings data supplier, Thomson Reuters. The poll has attracted 58,117 responses from more than 150 countries in four
annual rounds. The 2014 results are based on 10,536 responses from published senior academics who reported an average of
18 years working in higher education.
Research by international student recruitment agency IDP has shown that a university’s “reputation/ranking” is the
single most important consideration for students choosing study destinations, above fees and even course content
(http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2012-13/world-ranking/analysis/name-is-the-game).
A separate study by the World 100 Reputation Network has found that institutional reputation is the number one factor
for international academics changing jobs (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26=419275).
Key facts
• There are 20 countries represented in the world top 100 reputation list
• Five make the top 20: the US, the UK, Japan, Canada and Switzerland
• Only the US and the UK make the top 10
• The highest-ranking university outside the UK and the US is Japan’s University of Tokyo (11th, down two places)
• Six London universities in the top 100, more than any other city in the world
• South Korea’s Seoul National University is Asia’s biggest riser, up 15 places to 26th, but it remains only
fourth in the region
• King’s College London is Europe’s biggest riser – up from 61-70 to joint 43rd
• India does not have a single representative in the tables
• Brazil’s University of São Paulo is the sole South American presence (81-90 band)
• A number of institutions’ standing does not match their excellence, with reputation rankings much lower than
their positions in the more objective World University Rankings. They include: UC Santa Barbara (33rd in the WUR
2013-14, 61-70 in the reputation rankings); Brown University (joint 52nd in the WUR, 81-90 by reputation); and the
University of Queensland (joint 63rd in the WUR, 81-90 by reputation)
• The Republic of Ireland is not represented
• Three institutions seem to be enjoying a reputational “halo effect”, included in the tables but failing to make
the top 200 of the World University Rankings: Moscow State, Middle East Technical and São Paulo
•
Comments
Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings, says:
“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 annual Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, based now on responses from almost 60,000 carefully selected and statistically
representative academics, have become a closely watched and vital indicator of the fortunes of global university
brands.”
Bahram Bekhradnia, president of the UK’s Higher Education Policy Institute, says:
“While reputation surveys do not tell you anything objective about quality, they nevertheless do reflect visibility and
awareness by others of a university’s activities: academics are likely to be more aware of those with whom they’ve
recently collaborated, those with recent relevant articles and those presenting at conferences. So a reputation survey
such as this is likely to be a harbinger of things to come and a predictor of subsequent trends.”
Results Tables
THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD REPUTATION RANKINGS 2014: FULL TABLES
Copyright Times Higher Education. If reproducing this table or any part of it, you MUST include a link to http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
THE WRR 2014THE WRR 2013 Institution nameCountry / Region11Harvard UniversityUS22Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUS36Stanford UniversityUS43University of CambridgeUK54University of OxfordUK65University of California, BerkeleyUS77Princeton UniversityUS810Yale UniversityUS911California Institute of TechnologyUS108University of California, Los AngelesUS119University of TokyoJapan1213Columbia UniversityUS13=14Imperial College LondonUK14=14University of ChicagoUS1512University of MichiganUS16=20ETH Zürich – Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology, ZürichSwitzerland1717Cornell UniversityUS1819Johns Hopkins UniversityUS1923Kyoto UniversityJapan2016University of TorontoCanada2122National University of SingaporeSingapore2218University of PennsylvaniaUS2324University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUS2425London School of Economics and Political ScienceUK2520University College LondonUK2641Seoul National UniversitySouth Korea2729New York UniversityUS2830University of Wisconsin-MadisonUS2926Carnegie Mellon UniversityUS30=31Duke UniversityUS31=27University of WashingtonUS3240University of California, San FranciscoUS33=31University of British ColumbiaCanada33=31McGill UniversityCanada33=27University of Texas at AustinUS3635Tsinghua UniversityChina3737Northwestern UniversityUS3838Georgia Institute of TechnologyUS3951-60Pennsylvania State UniversityUS4034University of California, San DiegoUS4145Peking UniversityChina4251-60Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands4336University of Hong KongHong Kong4361-70King's College LondonUK4339University of MelbourneAustralia4646University of EdinburghUK4644Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany48=50Purdue UniversityUS4951-60École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSwitzerland5051-60Osaka UniversityJapan51-6048University of California, DavisUS51-6061-70Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyHong Kong51-6061-70Karolinska InstituteSweden51-6061-70Korea Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologySouth Korea51-6047University of ManchesterUK51-6051-60University of MinnesotaUS51-6050Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityRussian Federation51-6051-60Ohio State UniversityUS51-6051-60National Taiwan UniversityTaiwan51-6061-70Tokyo Institute of TechnologyJapan61-7042Australian National UniversityAustralia61-7051-60University of California, Santa BarbaraUS61-7042University of MassachusettsUS61-7071-80Michigan State UniversityUS61-7051-60University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUS61-7071-80Universität HeidelbergGermany61-7061-70University of Southern CaliforniaUS61-7049University of SydneyAustralia61-7061-70Technische Universität MünchenGermany61-7061-70Tohoku UniversityJapan71-8081-90University of AmsterdamNetherlands71-8081-90Boston UniversityUS71-8071-80Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinGermany71-80-Indiana UniversityUS71-8071-80Katholieke Universiteit LeuvenBelgium71-8051-60Middle East Technical UniversityTurkey71-8071-80Université Paris-SorbonneFrance71-8071-80University of PittsburghUS71-8091-100Texas A UniversityUS71-8081-90Washington University in St LouisUS81-9081-90Brown UniversityUS81-9081-90Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong81-9091-100Freie Universität BerlinGermany81-9061-70Leiden UniversityNetherlands81-9091-100University of Maryland, College ParkUS81-90-Mayo Medical SchoolUS81-9071-80University of QueenslandAustralia81-9061-70University of São PauloBrazil81-9081-90Utrecht UniversityNetherlands81-90-Yonsei UniversitySouth Korea91-100-University of ArizonaUS91-10081-90University of FloridaUS91-100-London Business SchoolUK91-100-London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineUK91-10071-80Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore91-10081-90University of New South WalesAustralia91-10081-90Université Pierre et Marie CurieFrance91-10081-90Rutgers, the State University of New JerseyUS91-100-RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany91-100-Technion Israel Institute of TechnologyIsrael
THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD REPUTATION RANKINGS 2014: STATE OF THE NATIONS - NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM EACH COUNTRY IN THE TOP 100
Copyright Times Higher Education. If reproducing this table or any part of it, you MUST include a link to http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
CountryNumber of institutions in the top 100Top institutionTop institution rankUS46Harvard University1UK10University of Cambridge4Germany6Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München=46Japan5University of Tokyo11Australia5University of Melbourne=43Netherlands4Delft University of Technology42Canada3University of Toronto20South Korea3Seoul National University26Hong Kong3University of Hong Kong=43Switzerland2ETH Zürich – Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology, Zürich16Singapore2National University of Singapore21China2Tsinghua University36France2Université Paris-Sorbonne71-80Taiwan1National Taiwan University51-60Sweden1Karolinska Institute51-60Russia1Lomonosov Moscow State University51-60Turkey1Middle East Technical University71-80Belgium1Katholieke Universiteit Leuven71-80Brazil1University of São Paulo81-90Israel1Technion Israel Institute of Technology 91-100
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Notes to editors
Methodology key facts
• The World Reputation Rankings are based on the results of the Academic Reputation Survey carried out by Ipsos
MediaCT for Thomson Reuters, data supplier to the Times Higher Education rankings. The 2014 World Reputation Rankings are based on 10,536 responses from 133 countries to the survey distributed
in March-May 2013.
• The survey is available in 10 languages and is distributed based on United Nations data to ensure that it
accurately reflects the global distribution of scholars. Times Higher Education does not allow volunteers to take part in the survey and accepts no nominations from institutions or any third party.
• The poll asks academics to nominate no more than 15 of the best institutions in their narrow field of expertise,
based on their experience and knowledge, making it a rigorous global measure of academic prestige.
• For the 2014 table, some 30 per cent of responses were from the Americas, 34 per cent from Europe, 26 per cent
from Asia Pacific and 9 per cent from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia (figures rounded).
• Twenty-two per cent of respondents hail from engineering and technology, 22 per cent from the social sciences,
18 per cent from the physical sciences, 16 per cent from clinical subjects, 13 per cent from the life sciences and 9 per
cent from the arts and humanities.
•
The full methodology of the survey, and a copy of the survey instrument, are available at:
http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/globalprofilesproject/gpp-reputational/methodology/
Terminology and intellectual property
• The full description of the tables is “Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2014”
• Data for the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings were provided by Thomson Reuters from its Global Institutional Profiles project, an ongoing
multi-stage process to collect and validate factual data about academic institutional performance across a variety of
aspects and multiple disciplines: http://science.thomsonreuters.com/globalprofilesproject/
• Any publication of the “Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2014” tables (in full or in part) should include full attribution to “Times Higher Education with data supplied by Thomson Reuters”
• Please include the following link when publishing the “Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2014” tables (in full or in part):
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/ or www.thewur.com
•
iPhone app – World University Rankings
The separate 2013-2014 World University Rankings, based on 13 largely objective indicators, are available online at
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/ and via a free Times Higher Education iPhone app, which provides rankings data on the world’s top 400 institutions. Powered by Thomson Reuters, the app
allows users to create their own rankings based on personal preferences and criteria weightings so that they can find
the institution that best suits their needs.
About Times Higher Education magazine
Times Higher Education is the world’s most authoritative source of information about higher education. Designed specifically for professional
people working in higher education and research, Times Higher Education was founded in 1971 and has been online since 1995. Times Higher Education is published by TSL Education Ltd
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ENDS