Deciding on which university to attend to complete a Bachelor’s Degree may just be one of the most important decisions a young person has to make. With numerous universities around the world – the choice may not be an easy one. It is a significant investment of both time and money, and so it’s natural that students need time and thorough research to arrive at a decision. Factors such as a school’s location, the entry requirement and university’s reputation might influence one’s decision. There is no denying that a university’s global rankings play a large role too. In this blog, we discuss why they matter.
What are university rankings?
Whether you wish to study in Singapore or overseas, university rankings can possibly provide you with the guidance to aid in your decision-making process. They let you objectively compare between universities and decide on a university and a course that suits you best. Some factors that global university ranking systems take into account include:
- Number of students
- Faculty-to-student ratio
- Diversity of faculty
- Research quality
- Impact of scientific publications
How many global university ranking systems are there and what are they?
Several global university ranking systems exist and these include QS World University Ranking, Times Higher Education World University Ranking, and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Each university ranking system takes unique approaches and prioritises different measures in order to determine the quality of education provided by a university. This explains why a particular university might have differing rankings across the different lists.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings methodology
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings evaluate universities across 5 core missions:
- Teaching: the learning environment;
- Research: volume, income and reputation;
- Citations: research influence;
- International outlook: staff, students and research;
- Industry income: knowledge transfer.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 provides a list of research-intensive universities ranked according to these five criteria.
Some of PSB Academy’s partner universities perform notably well in this ranking system. La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia is ranked top 250 in world university rankings and top 14 in Australia. Another of our Australian partner Universities, University of Canberra, ranked 170, is in the top 10 in Australia. The University of Nottingham, a prestigious university in UK and also a partner, was ranked 141 in THE 2022.
QS World University Ranking
The QS World University Rankings is one of the most widely used university rankings in the world. Launched in 2004, the QS World University Rankings evaluate the different universities using 4 main indicators:
- Academic: Academic reputation, H index, citations per faculty, and staff with PhDs
- Employer: Employer Reputation, employers’ presence on campus, graduate employment rate, and Alumni Outcomes
- Student: Faculty/student ratio, and student exchange inbound
- International: Proportion of faculty members that are international and proportion of students that are international.
In the QS World University Rankings 2022, featuring 1,300 universities around the world, one of our partner universities, The University of Newcastle, Australia is ranked top 200 and top 12 in Australia.
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, was first published by the Center for World-Class Universities (CWCU), Graduate School of Education (formerly the Institute of Higher Education) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China in 2003. This ranking system evaluates institutes based on these criteria:
- Quality of education: Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Field Medals.
- Quality of faculty: Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Field Medals, and highly-cited researchers
- Research output: Papers published in Nature and Science, and papers indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Science Citation Index
- Per capita performance: Per capita academic performance of an institution
In the 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities, University of Nottingham ranked top 9 in the UK, which placed them in the top 150 universities.
University subject rankings
While a university’s overall ranking might be important, paying attention to a university’s subject rankings allow you to understand if your discipline of interest has a strong reputation in a particular university. The university that’s most suited to your aspirations and field of interest may not necessarily have the highest overall ranking.
According to QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021, PSB Academy’s partner university, Edith Cowan University (ECU), is amongst the Top 30 Universities in the World for Sports-Related Subjects. Another of our universities, La Trobe University (LTU), Top 12 Australian University for Life Sciences by Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2022.
PSB Academy’s standing
PSB Academy provides its students with a rigorous curriculum and a nurturing learning environment. It has nine partner universities: Coventry University, Edinburgh Napier University, Edith Cowan University, La Trobe University, Massey University, The University of Newcastle, Australia, The University of Nottingham, University of Canberra and Webster University – all with noteworthy rankings.
In enrolling as a student in PSB Academy, you will be exposed to quality teaching. Learn with a community of diverse individuals from all around the world and be granted access to a wealth of opportunities. View the Bachelor’s Degree courses and Master’s Degree courses offered at our institution and find one that is most aligned with your interests and ambitions.
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