For the past two years, the United Kingdom’s University of Cambridge topped the list of World’s Best Universities realease by U.S. News & World Report, but this year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology jumped from third to first.
The World’s Best Universities rankings, updated annually by U.S. News, are based on the 2012 QS World University Rankings, developed by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a leading global career and education network. Using a different methodology and ranking data than the well-known U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, the World’s Best Universities rates schools on factors such as academic reputation, the proportion of international faculty, and the proportion of international students.
The World’s Best Universities rankings are among the most comprehensive of their kind and include the following lists: Top 400 Universities Worldwide, Top 100 Asian Universities, and Top 100 Latin American Universities. In addition to the regional rankings, there are also global rankings in 25 different subject disciplines, such as electrical engineering, accounting and finance, biological sciences, and the newly added communication and media studies.
“As the job market becomes more competitive, there’s a growing interest among prospective students to attend institutions abroad,” said U.S. News & World Report Editor and Chief Content Officer Brian Kelly. “The World’s Best Universities rankings help students compare and select the best schools worldwide.”
World’s Best Universities Rankings 2012:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)
University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
Harvard University (United States)
UCL (University College London) (United Kingdom)
University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
Yale University (United States)
University of Chicago (United States)
Princeton University (United States)
California Institute of Technology (United States).
