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The US continues to lead the way in the QS World University Rankings

Published On: 28 Nov 2008

Tags: US Universities Harvard University US higher education system Quacquarelli Symonds US University Ranks Princeton University

Over one quarter, 57 to be exact, of the world’s top 200 universities are to be found in the United States of America, according to the rankings put together by the UK’s Times Higher and education and career experts QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Harvard took pole position for the forth year running as the best university in the world, excelling in the areas of Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences. Yale edged into to second place, tied with the UK’s University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. Princeton jumped from tenth place in 2006 to sixth place in 2007. The California Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago this year share seventh place while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) slipped from forth to tenth place.

US universities excelled across the board taking a minimum of six of the top ten spots in every subject area including: arts & humanities, life sciences & biomedicine, natural sciences, social sciences and engineering & IT. In the field of natural sciences, the US institutions showed their true strength, filling eight of the top ten spots in the world university rankings.

But academic supremacy, it would appear comes at a price. Harvard University is entirely funded by student fees, research awards and fundraising. It is the world’s richest university by some distance and outspends the research budgets of many countries. Yale, Princeton, Duke, Cornell, Chicago, Columbia, MIT, Pennsylvania and Stanford, all among the top 20 world university rankings, also share this funding structure.

The only real exception which can be said to hold its own against privately funded institutions within the US is the University of California state university system. In fact, six of the ten UC campuses are ranked within the top 200 universities in the world. UC Berkeley, its flagship campus is ranked at 22 overall in the world university rankings and is held as the best university in the world for natural science subjects.

While the elite US universities may be the most expensive in the world, the US continues to be the top destination for international students. While only one percent of American students choose to study outside of the US many students from across the globe flock to US higher education institutions seeing them as a Gateway to the most attractive employment market in the world as well as providing value for money in terms of class time and access to professors. The general reputation of the US higher education system means there is unrivalled prestige attached to top US universities and this continues to keep places at Top Universities in constant and global demand.

Courtesy - Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) - www.qsnetwork.com
Source - www.topgradschool.com

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