Movement at the top in 2024 World University Rankings
The 2024 QS World University Rankings were released this week, and with three new key metrics added to the scoring process, several universities have moved into the elite international forefront, while traditional icons of educational excellence are being pushed below the fold.
Long held reputations are likely to have much shorter half lives in the future as university choice is increasingly based on larger and more relevant data sets, and after 20 years building its database, the QS World University Rankings covers 1500+ universities in 96 countries across 55 disciplines and includes analysis of 17.5 million academic papers and the opinions of 240,000 academic faculty and employers.
The result is an incredibly granular independent comparative analysis of academic excellence that builds year upon year with more detail and more data. The ranking methodology was further refined this year by including metrics for a University’s graduate employment outcomes, it’s International Research Network and for sustainability.
Reputations count for nothing when metrics are applied and the 2024 QS World University Rankings saw several universities force their way into the top 20, and yet another jump in overall average score. At the elite level, most universities continue to improve.Source Data: QS World University Rankings 2021-2024 / NewAtlas.com
Reputations count for nothing when metrics are applied and the 2024 QS World University Rankings saw several universities force their way into the top 20, and yet another jump in overall average score. At the elite level, most universities continue to improve.
A 2022 QS International Student Survey found that 80 percent of students think universities could do more for the environment, so this was factored into the overall score and you can see from the top-line data that there are some big changes in the rankings for a few universities.
The rankings are designed to help prospective students find the leading schools in their field of interest, but there’s an absolute feast of relevant data for all sorts of insights into the world educational system and where we send the brightest minds of the next generation.
Some countries such as Australia, Singapore and Switzerland obviously prioritise education above all else, but remember this is only one metric (number of Top 100 Universities) and China is investing massively in the education of its people and there will be wholesale change in these rankings over the next few years.