UK on borrowed time in world Under 50 university ranking

The United Kingdom has more universities than any other nation in the top 100 of the annual Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 ranking – 18 compared to 13 for its nearest competitor, Australia.

But the 2013 rankings, published on 19 June, show that the UK figure is down two compared with 2012. The disappearance of one of those – the University of Keele – foreshadows an almost total wipeout for the UK over the next two years.

Founded in 1962 Keele, which was in 61st place in 2012, is now too old and is eliminated from the rankings. With the generation of 'new' universities founded in the mid-1960s approaching their 50th anniversary, all will be disqualified over the next two years.

While the ranking’s editor, Phil Baty, warns against “complacency” in the face of increased competition for the mature university systems of the UK and the US from nations that have invested heavily in their higher education systems, there is little they can do to maintain their presence other than to create more new universities – self-evidently an improbable move, especially in a time of fiscal restraints.

Compared to 2012, when it had three universities in the top 10, the UK has just one, the University of York, which climbs one place from eighth to seventh. Next highest are the University of Warwick (13), Lancaster University (down from nine to 14) and the University of East Anglia (down from 10 to 16).

In addition to Keele, both City University London (founded in 1966) and the University of Bradford (1966) drop out of the top 100. The Open University is the only new British entry, taking joint 99th position.

Only three universities founded under the 1992 reforms allowing polytechnics to convert to full university status are in the top 100: Plymouth University (joint 53), the University of Hertfordshire (75) and Liverpool John Moores University (joint 88).

While Australia loses two universities ranked in the top 100 last year – Edith Cowan University and RMIT University – it gains one: Murdoch University (founded in 1973) is at number 57. The top-ranked Australian institution, Queensland University of Technology, rises from 40 last year to joint 26, while the University of South Australia is up from 65 to 48.

New Zealand has two in the top 100: the University of Waikato (46) and Massey University (81). But both were founded in 1964 and will soon be eliminated on age grounds.

Eight nations make the world’s top 10. Confirming its strong performance in last week’s QS Top 50 Under 50 rankings, South Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology tops the table, while the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology climbs from fifth to third.

Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne is in second place, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology falls from third to fourth and the University of California, Irvine, is fifth, down from fourth last year.

New to the top 10 are The Netherlands’ Maastricht University (6) and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (8). The UK’s York is eighth, France’s Université Pierre et Marie Curie is ninth (down from sixth) while Université Paris-Sud is at number 10.

While it dominates the traditional university rankings, the US has only eight institutions in the top 100 and most of them are losing ground in the Under 50 rankings.

University of California, Irvine slips from fourth to fifth in 2013. University of California, Santa Cruz, loses its top 10 position, dropping from seventh to 11. There are mixed fortunes for the University of Texas system: while Dallas jumps from 29 to 15, San Antonio falls from 53 to 70. The University of Illinois at Chicago drops from 11 to 19.

Out of the 28 countries represented in the Top 100 (against 30 last year), France has seven universities, Spain six, Taiwan five and Hong Kong, Germany and Canada four each.

But Egypt and Malaysia both lose their places, while Brazil’s sole representative, State University of Campinas, climbs from 44 last year to 28.

Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey are included, but there are no universities from India, mainland China or Russia.

Asia again makes an impressive showing in the under 50 rankings, with eight countries represented, even though there is no place for mainland China or India. Taiwan has five universities in the top 100, led by National Sun Yat-Sen University (37).

All of Hong Kong’s Top 100 contenders are in the leading 40 universities, but it also boasts some of the youngest institutions in the ranking. Its top performer, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, in fourth place overall, was founded in 1991. The City University of Hong Kong (18) was established in 1984, while Hong Kong Polytechnic University (joint 34) gained its university title as recently as 1994.

Singapore and South Korea both perform strongly on the back of a small number of high-flying universities, but Japan’s sole top 100 university, the University of Tsukuba, falls from 39 to joint 49.

The 100 Under 50 ranking uses the same 13 performance indicators as the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, but with a recalibrated methodology that it says better captures the characteristics of young institutions.

Phil Baty, editor of the THE rankings, said: “The THE 100 Under 50 rankings also serve as a warning to Western governments that enjoy great economic returns from established, world-leading higher education systems without investing in the future: through investment, innovation and strategic vision, East Asian nations have been able to build world-class institutions quickly – and many more nations are following suit.

"These rankings prove that the competition for future world dominance in higher education and research is wide open.”

The rankings, published by Times Higher Education with data supplied by Thomson Reuters, can be found here.

Comment

UK universities - Good to Great, but so expensive for overseas students.

Kampechara Puriparinya on the University World News Facebook page