World's Best Universities: About the Rankings

How are the World's Best Universities rankings different from the U.S. News America's Best Colleges and the U.S. News America's Best Graduate Schools rankings?

First, none of the data used in the America's Best Colleges and America's Best Graduate Schools rankings are used to compute any of the World's Best Universities rankings. The world rankings are based on the THE-QS World University Rankings, which are produced in association with QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Quacquarelli Symonds does all the data collection and calculations for the World's Best Universities rankings.

Second, the methodology used to compute the World's Best Universities rankings is different in many key areas from what we use in the U.S. News America's Best Colleges and U.S. News America's Best Graduate Schools. It's true that both the America's Best and the World's Best Universities rankings use peer surveys. However, the survey process used to calculate peer assessment and recruiter reviews in the World's Best Universities rankings are conducted very differently. Because of the limitations and the availability of cross-country comparative data, the world ranking system relies heavily on research performance measured through citations per faculty member. The U.S. News rankings do not use citation analysis.

The U.S. News America's Best Colleges and America's Best Graduate Schools rankings rely heavily on student and school-specific data—such as scores on admission tests, graduation rates, retention rates, and financial resources—that are not part of World's Best Universities because such student and school-specific data can't be compared internationally.

About our partners. The Times Higher Education (www.timeshighereducation.co.uk) was founded in 1971 and is the weekly magazine of universities across the world. It's the United Kingdom's most authoritative source of information about higher education. It's designed specifically for professional people working in higher education and research. It is no longer affiliated with the Times of London.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds provides guidance for higher education and career choices, enabling high achievers to progress toward their leadership goals. QS uses exclusive events, publications, research, and interactive Web tools to link undergraduate, graduate, M.B.A., and executive communities around the world with recruiters and education providers. QS's communities include QSTopUniversities.com, QSTopGradSchool.com, QSTopMBA.com, and QSGlobalWorkplace.com. QS operates from offices in London, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Washington, Boston, and Johannesburg, South Africa.