What Makes a Top University?

A number of assessments carried out by AllAboutUni.com indicate that the general characteristics of a top university are the following: being based in North America or Europe, being in an area where other top universities are clustered, having a large endowment and being a private institution. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and interactive website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures).

The analysis is based on a ranking of the World’s Top-500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 ranking published on 15 August 2008.

Location An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the World’s Top-500 universities are mainly located in Europe (n=210; 40%) and the Americas (n=190; 40%). In the Americas, 95% of the universities are located in the United States (84%; n=159) and Canada (11%; n=21).

Clustering An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that in both the United States (US) and Europe there is a clustering of the world’s top universities. In the US, 36% (57 out of 159) of universities - more than one in three - are located in just five States: New York (15), California (13), Texas (13), Massachusetts (9) and Pennsylvania (7). In Europe, more than one in three (36%) of the Top-25 universities are located in United Kingdom.

 Public - Private An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that 70% of the World's Top-10 universities are private institutions, suggesting that at the very top of the rankings private universities perform better than public universities (click here). In the World’s Top-25 universities, there is a lower predominance of private universities, with 11 out of 25 universities being private.

Endowment An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the World’s Top-25 universities have accumulated a massive amount of endowment wealth (a total of $170 billion) and the private universities in the US have accumulated more wealth than the public universities. A large university endowment supports the operating budget of a university (for example, a third of Harvard University’s operating budget comes from endowment income).

Age An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the age of a university was not associated with being in the World's Top-25 universities (click here). Two good examples of 'young' universities achieving a high ranking are Stanford University (established in 1891 and ranked 2nd) and the University of California - San Diego (established in 1960 and ranked 14th).

Other factors Other factors that will determine the ranking of a university include: the university infrastructure (campus, facilities, etc.), the working conditions (academic salaries, academic freedom, etc.), the levels of funding (public and private funding) and the quality of life in the region where the university is located. Conclusion A series of AllAboutUni.com assessments has identified a number of general characteristics that help make a top university. The very strong performance of private universities in the World's Top-10 universities (7 out of 10) suggests that private universities are better able manage the different factors and etablish a top university.