Whether it is to help students find the right university for them, to promote their university’s visibility or to attract new staff and students, many universities take part in university ranking. But despite the growing popularity of this type of evaluation, it is also a well-established target of criticism. In particular, critics point to the fact that ranking systems are not neutral and are prone to biases. They can also be misleading if they are used as the sole basis for a decision to apply to a university.
While there is much room for improvement, we must not lose sight of the fact that ranking systems serve important purposes. They provide valuable information to universities, students and other stakeholders about the quality of higher education institutions. They can also highlight areas where a university needs to focus its efforts. For example, in the US, THE 2025 rankings feature a ranking factor called Faculty Research that rewards colleges and universities for the percentage of their faculty members who conduct research. This is a useful measure for institutions that prioritize research, but it would be problematic if this were the only ranking factor used by students when choosing a university.
Other university ranking factors that deserve attention are the ones assessing the number of alumni who have won Nobel prizes or the percentage of a school’s faculty who has been highly cited in their field. However, it should be pointed out that the number of indicators in most university ranking schemes is often very large and that the criteria for what makes a top university are not clearly defined.