College rankings become less and less relevant with an economy that can’t churn out enough jobs for graduates. While college rankings like best party school have made headlines in recent years, here’s a look at the tried and true worldwide college rankings. Whether they appear online or in a magazine, these prestigious and authoritative worldwide college rankings have the usual suspects at the top of their lists and break down further rankings by major, student experience or job placement.
- QS World University Rankings This university rankings rank the top schools worldwide, which is usually divided between U.S. and British schools. This site also breaks down top schools by major, with a heavy emphasis on science and technology schools. These rankings are based on academic peer review and employer reviews.
- U.S. News and World Report College Rankings This publication is well-known as an authority for ranking colleges in the U.S., but they do the same amount of work each year to compile a list of the best universities worldwide. It does this by program and also offers college ranking systems for foreign countries such as Canada and Australia and New Zealand.
- Princeton Review With the Princeton Review come reviews from college students themselves. This traditional ranking system takes into account student quality life, demographics and the social scene. It also has less traditional rankings including one that may stand out for parents – schools that give you most bang for your buck.
- Maclean’s University Rankings This Canadian-based magazine has issued worldwide university rankings for years. Maclean’s talks to students and faculty when compiling their list of top schools. There are also lists for best Canadian university, which takes into account job placement and graduation percentages.
- Academic Ranking of World Universities This is one of the most widely recognized and prestigious world rankings for universities. It has top 100 lists for subjects like engineering and technology as well as social sciences. A conference is held every year to help the committee decide on rankings and several other publications site the ACRU as a source when conducting their own rankings.
- Times Higher Education Rankings For the past few years, the Times Higher Education Rankings have become of the most definitive sources of ranking world colleges and universities on the web. Schools from 15 countries are featured and rankings are conducted by 50 of the top faculty and education innovators working in higher education. The study goes over 400 schools, ranking them in five primary categories such as teaching and “international mix”.
- World University Web Rankings This site ranks universities all over the world and is an invaluable tool for students looking to study outside of the country. The site has top 100 lists for the U.S., Europe and Asia, as well as links to schools who participate in the social media wave. Unlike many authoritative lists that discount religion schools, this site has a section for them too.
- Webometrics Rankings of World Universities This site has been publishing bi-annual rankings each year, covering a whopping 20,000 schools all over the world. The list for top 12,000 schools include learning institutions from China and India. Webometrics ranks schools in numerous areas and with such a large amount of schools, works as a great resource for those attending non-Ivy League schools.
- Kiplinger World University Rankings This financial site focuses on what you’re getting out of an education at some of the most elite schools in the world. Is any degree worth $100,000 a year? Apparently, the answer is yes and the economists at this site break down what to look for when choosing to attend one of the top schools in the world.
- The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education has become one of the premiere college and university rankings systems for schools. It bases all of its rankings on how many black students are admitted to the freshman class and the percentage of blacks that graduate from the school each year. It also takes into account black faculty, including how many on staff have made tenure.
The most prestigious and authoritative world college rankings are released each year. How relevant they are depends on the student, major and job industry, since some place heavy emphasis on a student’s education while others just want to know you can get the job done. These world college rankings boast schools from around the globe and showcase the best programs at each learning institution and what departments the school excels in.