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There was once a time when the US had a considerable share of the world’s top universities. But it is declining now, and the universities of East Asian Nations, especially China and Middle Eastern universities, are taking the place of the US in the world’s top 100 universities. Times Education World University Rankings published its 19th annual edition of the top 100 universities on 12th October.
In 2018 there were 43 US universities in the world’s top 100 positions, but only 34 notably, because big names like Dartmouth College, Ohio State, and Michigan State have lost their top 100 status.
Whereas only two Chinese universities were on the list of the top 100 universities, now they have increased to seven. Also, Hong Kong’s five universities are among the top five universities, which were only three in 2018.
On the other hand, South Korea held the top three spots in the top 100 universities in 2018, though they had only two in 2018. Moreover, both Japan and Singapore take up the top two places.
Among the Middle East countries, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have also ranked as top universities; kudos to the heavy investment, innovation, and knowledge creation. Especially, Saudi’s King Abdulaziz University is amongst the fastest-rising universities worldwide. Now, it stands at 101st position, while last year, it occupied the 190th spot.
Meanwhile, in UAE, among the six UAE universities included in the world rankings, five are focusing on upgrading themselves. United Arab Emirates University and the University of Sharjah are among the world’s top 300 universities.
The Times Higher Education (THE) ranks universities while closely observing how the institutions improve themselves innovatively and knowledge-wise. On the other hand, it supports governments’ policies and university leaders’ technical decisions. Also, it stands by millions of internationally-mobile students so they can decide whom to trust in the aspect of their education. Rankings are on the basis of 13 separate performance metrics.
Meanwhile, they finalized the 2023 edition after analyzing 15.5 million research publications and nearly 112 million citations. Therefore, there was also a survey of more than 40,000 academics globally on each school’s international academic reputation. Similarly, they analyzed institutional income and faculty demographics, including international talent recruitment and research collaboration. So
Isn’t the latest results an alarming situation for the US? Simon Marginson, who is a professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford, admits that some great universities exist worldwide. So it doesn’t mean that US research is behind because there is no such evidence.
At the same time, when Chinese universities rank at the top and make a name for themselves, they are not collaborating much for international research or providing international talent. The only concern now is the increasing geopolitical tensions and mistrust worldwide.
Oxford’s vice chancellor Louise Richardson feels delighted to occupy the first spot as the topmost university in the world for the seventh consecutive year.
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