U.S. News & World Report Releases Inaugural Best Global Universities Rankings

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- New Rankings Offer Comprehensive Assessment of the World's Leading Research Universities -

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Oct 28, 2014, 12:01 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, a leading U.S.-based publisher of education analysis and rankings, today unveiled the inaugural Best Global Universities rankings on usnews.com. The U.S. prevails as the global leader among research universities, with many U.S. universities dominating the list of top schools. Harvard University claims the No. 1 spot overall, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No. 2 and the University of California—Berkeley at No. 3. Of the 500 institutions ranked, 134 are in the U.S. Germany follows with 42 schools, and the United Kingdom with 38 schools. China makes a strong showing, with 27 schools in the top 500.

The 2015 Best Global Universities rankings offer the most comprehensive assessment of research universities worldwide as well as by region and country. The overall rankings include 500 universities spread out across 49 countries. There are four regional rankings of the top universities in Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe and Latin America, as well as country-specific rankings highlighting the top schools in 11 countries, including Canada, China, France, Germany and Italy. The rankings also feature the top 100 global universities in 21 subject areas, including fields such as economics and business, engineering, computer science and clinical medicine.

U.S. News developed the Best Global Universities rankings to help students accurately compare schools worldwide. "Increasingly, students are enrolling in universities outside of their own countries," said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer. "As higher education becomes more global, our new rankings will set standards and allow students to better evaluate all of their options."

The Best Global Universities rankings – which are based on data and metrics provided by Thomson Reuters InCites™ research analytics solutions – focus on institutions' research overall. The methodology weighs factors that measure a university's global and regional reputation; academic research performance using bibliometric indicators; and school-level data on faculty and Ph.D. graduates.

The 2015 rankings are U.S. News' first evaluation of higher education institutions worldwide. For 30 years, U.S. News has produced the Best Colleges rankings, which help prospective students identify the best schools for them in the U.S. Robert Morse, chief data strategist and head of educational research at U.S. News for three decades, leads the Best Global Universities project. Morse and U.S. News have played a significant role in the development of standardized data for U.S. higher education.

"We wanted to use our 30 years of experience in academic rankings to develop a resource that helps students worldwide easily research and compare schools," said Morse.

Each ranked university has a profile page on usnews.com that displays contact information and detailed ranking indicators. Prospective students and their families can also easily search based on region, country or subject of interest. In addition, U.S. News provides tips and resources for international students interested in studying in the U.S.

2015 U.S. News Best Global Universities Rankings
*For the full rankings, visit www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities

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

Best Global Universities in Asia
1. University of Tokyo (Japan)
2. Peking University (China)
3. University of Hong Kong
4. National University of Singapore
5. Kyoto University (Japan)

Best Global Universities in Australia/New Zealand
1. University of Melbourne (Australia)
2. University of Sydney
3. University of Queensland Australia
4. Australian National University
5. Monash University (Australia)

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

Best Global Universities in Latin America
1. Universidade de Sao Paulo (Brazil)
2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
3. Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil)
4. University of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
5. National Autonomous University of Mexico

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is a multimedia publisher of news, consumer advice, rankings and analysis. Focusing on Education, Health, Personal Finance, Travel, Cars and News & Opinion, www.usnews.com has earned a reputation as the leading provider of consumer advice and analysis that helps its readers make informed life decisions. U.S. News & World Report's signature franchise includes its "Best" series of consumer advice guides and publications that include rankings of colleges, hospitals, mutual funds, cars and more.

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SOURCE U.S. News & World Report