The top 10 best universities in the world are dominated by the United Kingdom and the United States. It’s not easy to compete with such legendary universities as Stanford Oxford Cambridge or Princeton .
Here are the latest world rankings, published by QS World University Rankingsthe Times Higher Education (THE) and the Shanghai ranking. Welcome to the world of academic excellence.
QS, Shanghai, THE: what are the differences?
Before taking a look at the rankings of the world’s top universities, it is worth taking stock of the differences that may exist between the rankings published by the Shanghai rankingthe QS World University Ranking and the Time Higher Education.
It’s not easy to decipher, however, as the evaluation criteria for these different rankings are quite numerous and sometimes complex. For example, the QS World University Ranking focuses primarily on the academic reputation of the university of the university it seeks to evaluate.
The Shanghai ranking will measure an institution according to the number of Nobel Prizes won by its students. This simple difference can already produce radically different results and a rather dissimilar ranking.
Which classification is the most reliable?
In fact, all three rankings are reliable and can help you choose the university you want to study at.
Each ranking is based on different criteria. For example, the Shanghai ranking ranking focuses more on the research output of universities, while the QS World University Ranking focuses more on the quality of the teaching provided by the university and its international reputation.
The Times Higher Education provides a more general overview, encompassing both research criteria and the university’s reputation. The only drawback is that this classification takes into account a large number of variables, and can therefore lack precision.
The 10 best universities in the world
The question is on everyone’s lips: which is THE best university in the world in 2019?
Once again, the answer varies from one ranking to another. In the QS World University Ranking, it’s the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (while in the Shanghai rankings and Times Higher Education, MIT is ranked 4th).
For the Times Higher Education it’s the indestructible University of Oxford in first place in the world rankings.
Finally, in the Shanghai ranking the prestigious Harvard University in first place.
Here is a comparative table of the various rankings of the best international universities:
| Rank | QS World University Rankings | Times Higher Education (THE) | Shanghai Rankings |
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA | Oxford – UK | Harvard University – USA |
| 2 | University of Stanford – USA | Cambridge – UK | University of Stanford – USA |
| 3 | Harvard University – USA | University of Stanford – USA | University of Cambridge – UK |
| 4 | Caltech – USA | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA |
| 5 | Oxford – RU | California Institute of Technology – USA | Berkeley – USA |
| 6 | Cambridge – RU | Harvard University – USA | University of Princeton – USA |
| 7 | ETH Zurich – Suisse | Princeton University – USA | University of Oxford – RU |
| 8 | Imperial College – RU | Yale University – USA | University of Columbia – USA |
| 9 | University of Chicago – USA | Imperial College London – RU | California Institute of Technology – USA |
| 10 | UCL – RU | University of Chicago – USA | University of Chicago – USA |
*RU = Royaume Uni
Although there are some differences between these rankings, it is worth noting that Anglo-Saxon universities dominate the charts. A special mention goes to Switzerland, where the ETH Zurich ranks 7th in the QS World University Ranking. thanks to ETH Zurich
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World university rankings: academic excellence in Paris and France
The ranking of the world’s top universities is not limited to Anglo-Saxon institutions. France and Paris also play a significant role in the international academic landscape. Sorbonne University, ranked among the best in the world, enjoys an outstanding academic reputation. The evaluation of universities is based on a number of criteria, including student numbers, teaching quality, research, international ranking and the position of each institution in the world rankings. In this context, École Polytechnique stands out by regularly achieving a prominent place in the world rankings of the best universities. In France, the higher education system is also evaluated according to specific criteria, including the percentage of international students and the quality of study programs. Thanks to these indicators, French universities continue to strengthen their position in the academic world, offering top-quality teaching.
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