20 Top Universities from the QS World University Rankings 2014

Education is of the utmost importance in today’s competitive workforce. As a result of this, it is interesting to see how Canada’s post-secondary institutions measure up against the global competition. We’ve explored Canada’s place on the world’s stage in posts like best country to live, smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best country for child well-being, the best countries for higher education, the most popular countries, the least corrupt countries, the countries with the best reputation, the best countries for ease of doing business, the best countries for starting a business, the best country for business, the best country for customer satisfaction, the most gay positive country, the best countries with the most competitive economies, the best countries for entrepreneurship, the most sustainable countries, the best countries to grow old, the best country brand, the best countries for business, the most sustainable countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the countries with the highest minimum wage, the safest countries, the best countries with the highest average salary, the best countries for social progress, the best countries for working women and the best countries for mothers. Today we’ll be looking at the 20 top universities in the world from the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2013/14.

QS “was founded in 1990 and has established itself as the leading global provider of specialist higher education and careers information and solutions.” Their World University Ranking “considers over 2,000 and evaluates over 700 universities in the world, ranking the top 400″ and it aims “to recognize universities as the multi-faceted organizations that they are and to provide a global comparison of their success against the notional mission of remaining or becoming world-class.” The methodology they use consists of six indicators, which are all weighted differently: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), faculty student ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), proportion of international students (5%) and proportion of international faculty (5%). This system allows each university to be ranked out of a possible 100 points. Based on this data, the 20 top universities in the world are:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Location: United States. Score: 100.0
• Harvard University – Location: United States. Score: 99.2
• University of Cambridge – Location: United Kingdom. Score: 99.0
• UCL (University College London) – Location: United Kingdom. Score: 98.9
• Imperial College London – Location: United Kingdom. Score: 98.8
• University of Oxford – Location: United Kingdom. Score: 98.7
• Stanford University – Location: United States. Score: 96.8
• Yale University – Location: United States. Score: 96.5
• University of Chicago – Location: United States. Score: 96.2
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – Location: United States. Score: 96.1
• Princeton University – Location: United States. Score: 96.1
• ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) – Location: Switzerland. Score: 94.3
• University of Pennsylvania – Location: United States. Score: 93.8
• Columbia University – Location: United States. Score: 93.6
• Cornell University – Location: United States. Score: 92.5
• Johns Hopkins University – Location: United States. Score: 92.1
• University of Edinburgh – Location: United Kingdom. Score: 91.3
• University of Toronto – Location: Canada. Score: 91.3
• Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Location: Switzerland. Score: 90.9
• King’s College London (KCL) – Location: United Kingdom. Score: 90.9

Other Canadian universities that made the top 50 are McGill University (21), and University of British Columbia (49).

Being globally competitive when it comes to facilities of higher education is important, as it ultimately reflects on the skill level of a country’s workforce. Congratulations to the University of Toronto, my alma mater, on making the top 20.

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