U.S. News & World Report Announces 2017 Best Global Universities Rankings

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in education rankings for more than 30 years, today released the 2017 Best Global Universities rankings. The overall rankings are the largest and most comprehensive assessment of research universities worldwide, evaluating 1,000 universities – up from 750 last year – across 65 countries.

With 210 ranked universities, U.S. schools dominate the 2017 list and, for the first time, claim the top five spots: Harvard University leads at No. 1, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No. 2 and Stanford University at No. 3. The University of California—Berkeley comes in at No. 4 and California Institute of Technology rounds out the group at No. 5. 

"U.S. universities do especially well in the Best Global Universities rankings because they place an enormous emphasis on academic research – a key factor in our methodology since these are indicators that can be compared globally," said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News. "This methodology is different from that of Best Colleges, which measures the overall quality of undergraduate education and focuses on outcomes including graduation and retention rates."

Behind the U.S., the following countries have the most ranked institutions out of 1,000 schools on the overall Best Global Universities list:

• China: 87
• United Kingdom: 68
• Germany: 55
• France: 49

Best Global Universities also has rankings by country, region and subject. In the 2017 edition, U.S. News added six new country-specific rankings, including larger countries like Russia and smaller ones such as Poland and Egypt, bringing the total up to 38. Institutions are also assessed across 22 subjects.

These countries, listed in rank order, performed the best in the following subject rankings:

• Clinical medicine: U.S., Japan, Germany, U.K, Italy
• Computer science: U.S., China, U.K., Canada, Germany
• Economics and business: U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Netherlands
• Engineering: U.S., China, U.K., Canada, Italy

The Best Global Universities methodology – which is based on Web of Science data and metrics provided by Clarivate Analytics InCites^™ – weighs factors that measure a university's global and regional research reputation and academic research performance using bibliometric indicators such as publications, citations and international collaboration. Each subject ranking has its own methodology based on academic research performance and reputation in that specific area.

This year, U.S. News slightly adjusted its overall methodology to further emphasize excellence in academic research by factoring in the total number of highly cited papers in the top 1 percent of their respective fields and the percentage of a university's total papers that are among the top 1 percent of most-cited papers.

"For over 30 years, U.S. News has helped students better understand the range of college options available to them in the U.S.," said Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News. "We take the same in-depth approach in our Best Global Universities to help students understand their college options worldwide."

2017 U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities

Overall Best Global Universities
1. Harvard University (U.S.)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.)
3. Stanford University (U.S.)
4. University of California—Berkeley (U.S.)
5. California Institute of Technology (U.S.)
6. University of Oxford (U.K.)
7. University of Cambridge (U.K.)
8. Princeton University (U.S.)
9. Columbia University (U.S.)
10. University of California—Los Angeles (U.S.)

Africa
1. University of Cape Town (South Africa)
2. University of Witwatersrand (South Africa)
3. University of Kwazulu Natal (South Africa)
4. Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
5. Cairo University (Egypt)

Asia
1. University of Tokyo (Japan)
2. National University of Singapore
3. Peking University (China)
4. Tsinghua University (China)
5. Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)

Australia/New Zealand
1. University of Melbourne (Australia)
2. University of Sydney
3. University of Queensland (Australia)
4. Monash University (Australia)
5. Australian National University (tie)
5. University of New South Wales (Australia) (tie)

Europe
1. University of Oxford (U.K.)
2. University of Cambridge (U.K.)
3. Imperial College London
4. University College London
5. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland)

Latin America
1. Universidade de Sao Paulo (Brazil)
2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
3. University of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
4. Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil)
5. Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

The Best Global Universities rankings serve the broader U.S. News mission to provide trusted information and rankings to help all students navigate their higher education options. In addition to the Global Universities rankings, U.S. News publishes the Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools and Best Online Programs. In 2015, U.S. News debuted resource centers for prospective undergraduate and graduate students, published in Chinese, to help guide Chinese students who are interested in studying abroad. Most recently, U.S. News announced a new collaboration with Shorelight Education to help international students and their families connect with universities.

For more information on the Best Global Universities, visit Facebook and Twitter using #BestGlobal.

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Personal Finance, Travel, Cars and News & Opinion, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings, news and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 37 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

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SOURCE U.S. News & World Report

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