Money is the key to being a top university, says study

Analysis by Times Higher Education magazine, ahead of its 2014 world university rankings, suggests that money is key to being a top university, writes Judith Burns for BBC News.

The UK had 31 universities in the top 200 last year but the leading 20 were dominated by wealthy US institutions. The magazine says the average top 200 university has plenty of money and strong international links.

The average top 200 university has 19% international students, hires 20% of staff from abroad and has at least one international co-author on 43% of published research papers. On average they have just under 12 students to one member of academic staff. Their annual income – from government grants, student fees, investments and commercial fees – is worth some US$750,000 per academic, says Times Higher Education.
Full report on the BBC News site