This is an interesting question in view of the raging public discourse regarding the caliber of higher education in the US in particular and West in general.
A recent study determined six of the top 10 universities in the world are in the US and four are in the United Kingdom.
In order, the top 10 universities are:
1. University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
2. Harvard University (US)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
4. Yale University (US)
5. University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
6. Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
7. University College London (United Kingdom)
8. University of Chicago (US)
9. University of Pennsylvania (US)
10. Columbia University (US)
Expand the list to include the next cluster of ten, and seven are in the US, while Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom each claim one.
This means that of the top 20 universities in the world, thirteen are in the US, five are in the United Kingdom, one is in Canada and another is in Switzerland.
U.S. News & World Report provides the full rank-ordered list of 400 of the world's best universities and an explanation of the methodology used.
As someone who often works at the critical junction where education and industry meet, I was glad to see the final rankings included an assessment of each school's reputation among employers.
Every level of American education receives so much criticism from so many sources, the findings probably come as a surprise to many educators and industry leaders. According to this study, anyway, fully 65% of top-notch universities are in the US.
Can we sustain or improve US university rankings in the coming years? That remains to be seen.
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