University Rankings – Not that Simple
Often times when I sit down with a family who has a high achieving student and ask them what their expectation is, they say, “We want a top ranked university.” Fair enough. There are certainly reasons why a university has made it to the top of the ranking. If you don’t know much about higher education, then it’s a good place to start. Here is where it gets more interesting – there isn’t just one ranking. There are a lot of different rankings that look at different aspects of universities. It is important to understand how to use them as a tool, not a quick university short list.
To make rankings an effective tool that informs you, you need to understand how the ranking methodology. Any good ranking will have a clear description of how they calculated it right at the top of the list. If you don’t see one, then it probably isn’t a reliable ranking. Make sure the ranking measures what you care about. For instance, you might like that the US News National University Ranking gives 20% of its weightage to peer assessed academic reputation. You might think twice about why alumni giving to the university, faculty compensation, and social mobility add up to another 15% of the same ranking. You need to find rankings that matches what you feel is important, or if you have an open mind, understand why the makers of the ranking included it.
There are a lot of different rankings and a lot of different sub-rankings. Here is a breakdown to help you get a foothold on where to start.
Global Rankings – Looking at the overall global rankings or global subject rankings are a good start. You can find out which countries have a majority of the programs you might be looking for, or a good starter list of universities for your target countries.
Country Rankings –Most top education countries have organizations that develop their own rankings. They bring a local knowledge base that can be very insightful. If you know which country you want to study in, this can be a great source of information.
Subject Rankings – Universities all have their areas of expertise. You would be surprised how many unknown names pop up in the top of subject rankings. This is the type of ranking I care about the most since my students usually have an academic area of focus.
Market Rankings – Rankings like PayScale, Forbes and others look at prospects after you get the degree. They give you an idea of the job prospects and salary potential of a particular university and their degrees.
It is important that you use rankings as a starting point. It should not be the only criteria by which you select a university and program. Finding the right university is about find programs that fits your academic and careers goals in an environment that helps you succeed.
About Post Author
About The Author
Sheldon Wallbrown
Creative Aspirations, Head of Admissions & University Relations Sheldon have over two decades working in education in both the United States and India. He has worked with hundreds of students find the educational opportunities that are right for them.