The best universities in the world 2018

Every year, college rankings like QS Ranking and Times Higher Education elect the best universities in the world. Get to know the highlights for 2018!

Electing the best universities in the world is a complicated task. First of all, it is necessary to choose which factors will be analyzed, the weight of each criterion, and how to assign notes fairly. This is what the university rankings do: use the same rule to measure the various institutions of higher education.

Thus, every year, such publications launch the general and specific classification of universities around the world. There are listings for MBA programs, for example, or even per-area filtering, such as social sciences. There are several lists that can be useful when choosing a destination university for interchange, graduation or post-graduation.

Meet the best universities in the world, according to three internationally respected rankings and understand the method used by each of them.

The best universities in the world according to the QS Ranking

Published by Quacquarelli Symonds, UK, this ranking takes into account six factors to establish prominent institutions. These are: academic reputation, reputation among employers, ratio of student to teacher ratio, citations per teacher, proportion of foreign teachers and students from abroad. In the 2019 edition, already launched by QS ranking, these were the best universities in the world:

1) MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
2) Stanford University
3) Harvard University
4) Caltech (California Institute of Technology)
5) Oxford University


See too: The best universities in the United States

It is no surprise that the rankings place prestigious institutions such as MIT and Stanford in the lead. They are universities that enjoy a good reputation among employers, for example in the field of technology. In turn, Stanford is located in the Palo Alto region, in the heart of Silicon Valley, and has a longstanding connection with businesses in the area. More than that, it draws creative minds and drives the creation of dozens of technology startups each year.

The best universities in the world, according to the Times Higher Education

Times Higher Education reviews five aspects of universities. Among them are the academic reputation as well as the volume of research done and citations from studies produced at the educational institution. Factors related to the student environment are also evaluated, such as the ratio between the number of PhD students and undergraduate students. Taking these criteria into account, the best universities in the world are as follows:

1) Oxford University
2) University of Cambridge
3) Caltech (California Institute of Technology)
4) Stanford University
5) MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

The two oldest English-language universities - Oxford, founded in 1096 and Cambridge, established in 1209 - lead the ranking. Behind the first place attributed to Oxford is a tradition of excellence, which is reflected in numbers. For example, there are 5% of academic researchers in the United Kingdom and there are prominent figures, 26 British prime ministers and 26 Nobel winners.

The best universities in the world, according to ARWU

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) takes into account several factors. Among them are the number of graduates from each evaluated university who have already taken the Nobel or Fields Medal and articles in prestigious journals such as Science and Nature. Get to know the best universities in the world, according to ARWU analysis:

1) Harvard University
2) Stanford University
3) Cambridge University
4) MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
5) University of California at Berkeley

In this case, the lead is to Harvard University, the most prestigious in the United States. In terms of international awards, Harvard has 47 Nobel Prize winners, 32 heads of state and 48 Pulitzer winners.

Another highlight of Harvard has to do with investing in future researchers. The university controls about $ 37.6 billion, the largest equity fund among all universities in the world. It is a reserve and so much to invest in research, projects and costing talented students.