U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems 2018

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Universitas 21

11 May, 2018, 07:00 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia, May 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

  • Universitas 21 (U21) is the leading global network of research intensive universities
  • Seventh annual U21 Ranking reveals world's top countries for higher education
  • Top Five Countries Overall: USA, Switzerland, UK, Sweden and Denmark
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The top five countries, in rank order, are the USA, Switzerland, the UK, Sweden and Denmark. Fifty national systems of higher education, from all continents, are evaluated across 24 attributes. The measures are standardised for population size. Countries are ranked overall and on each of four modules: Resources, Policy Environment, Connectivity and Output. Within each measure the highest achieving country is given a score of 100 and scores for other countries are expressed as a percentage of this highest score. (PRNewsfoto/Universitas 21)

The Universitas 21 Ranking is the only report in the world to assess national higher education systems, meeting a long-standing need to shift discussion from the ranking of the world's best universities, to the best overall systems in each country. Developed as a benchmark for governments, education institutions, policy-makers and individuals, it highlights the importance of creating strong conditions for higher education institutions to contribute to economic and cultural development, provide a high-quality experience for students, and assist institutions to compete effectively for overseas applicants.

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Universitas 21 funds the research at the University of Melbourne, who have been publishing the annual report since 2012. The 2018 report ranks 50 countries across four areas (Resources, Environment, Connectivity and Output) and overall. The main ranking compares a country's performance against the best in the world on each measure. The top five countries are the USA, Switzerland, the UK, Sweden and Denmark. The only change from 2017 is an inversion of Denmark and Sweden's positions. A subsidiary ranking also compares how nations perform relative to countries at similar levels of GDP per capita.

Commenting on the results, lead author of the report Professor Ross Williams at The Melbourne Institute recognises the importance of collaboration and interconnectivity: "The most successful national systems exhibit strong connectivity between institutions of higher education, government and the private sector."

The 2018 Ranking has been extended in two ways: firstly, through examining the concentration of research and secondly, by investigating the importance of research training.

Professor Sir David Eastwood, Chair of Universitas 21, commented:

"This unique higher education ranking provides a data-rich analysis of the characteristics, impact, connectivity, and efficiency of national higher education systems. Now in its seventh year, it offers exceptionally important longitudinal and global perspectives on how national higher educational systems are changing. I would like to thank the report's author, Professor Ross Williams and his colleagues for their authoritative and widely-admired work." 

U21 Ranking 2018 report and country specific summaries: https://universitas21.com/rankings

Contacts:  

Professor Ross Williams
Lead Author
University of Melbourne
Email: rossaw@unimelb.edu.au
Tel: +61-3-83442125  

Jade Bressington
Director of Operations
Universitas 21
Email: u21@universitas21.com
Tel: +44(0)121-414-9596