According to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020, released on 11th September 2019, we now have a list of the top 5 universities in the world.
As expected, a UK university took the number one spot: the University of Oxford. We have a new world number two, with the California Institute of Technology going three places from last year to achieve second place.
In summing it up, 92 countries were represented in the ranking and 27 of these countries have at least one university in the top 200.
Using the overall ranking and highest positions, the US and the UK are the most represented of all countries. Japan and China equally are also among the best represented countries in the ranking but they are slightly behind other nations, such as Germany and the Netherlands, for universities in the top 200.
These results were calculated using a number of important indicators which took into consideration five major metrics: research, teaching, research influence, corporate income and international outlook.
1. University of Oxford
University of Oxford is one of the most highly rated universities in the UK has stayed on top for the fourth tune running.
If you did not know, the University of Oxford is the oldest tertiary institution in the UK and one of the best known globally.
Currently,there are more than 20,000 students at Oxford, with 50/50 number of undergraduates and postgraduates.
Roughly 95 per cent of Oxford graduates are either employed or go on to do postgraduate studies within six months of finishing their studies.
As you would expect,admission is super competitive; on average the university receives five applications for every spot.
The university recruits staff from about 100 different countries and foreign citizens constitute about 40 per cent of the student and academic body.
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2. California Institute of Technology
One of the most amazing features of Caltech is its reasonably small size; roughly 1,000 undergraduates and 1,250 postgraduates study here. The college equally has a high student-to-staff ratio.
Caltech seeks to encourage an interdisciplinary environment in which students learn about and solve some of the most challenging and fundamental scientific or technological problems around them.
This university was founded as Throop University in 1891. It took up its current name in 1920.
In total, 6,506 applicants submitted applications for the entry class graduating in 2019 and 99 per cent of the students accepted across all years were in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
In addition, about half of Caltech students were awarded need based financial aid. The average financial aid package is $38,983 (£29,890).
Did you know Caltech’s mascot is a beaver, “nature’s engineer?”
One particularly interesting feature of the university are the customary cookie break taken every Thursday by physicists and their students, and the university’s status as a distributor of olive oil.
3. University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge runs a collegiate system, similar to University of Oxford.Nearly all of the 18,000 students enrolled at the university belong to a college or hall, where they are able to live, study and sleep on site.
There are about 31 colleges and 150 academic departments available at Cambridge.
This institution equally has a long and prestigious history that goes back to 1209, when scholars in Oxford ran to Cambridge after skirmishes with locals.
Hundreds of influential politicians, cultural figures and scientists lived in Cambridge, including Isaac Newton and John Harvard, and thereafter went on to establish Harvard University.
Each of the colleges have uniquely different traditions and all students get around to matriculate in a formal ceremony when they arrive at the university.
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4. Stanford University
Stanford has given birth to many start-ups and entrepreneurs and was also responsible for the establishment of Silicon Valley.
Majority of students go on to achieve amazing things; around 17 Nobel laureates are affiliated with Stanford.
The main primary campus houses 97 per cent of undergraduates and about 700 university buildings, in addition to museums, gardens and recreational centres.
There are roughly 7,000 undergraduates and 9,000 graduates at the university, with a 7:1 student-to-staff ratio.
Research at Stanford bags a $1.22 billion investment and more than 5,000 of the projects are funded from external investment.
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was established in mid-19th century and always awards financial aid to students on a needs basis.
Did you know that the very first architecture class in the US was taught at MIT? The first ever female student, Ellen Swallow Richards, studied chemistry in 1871.
Shortly thereafter, about two years later, the first international student – from Canada – graduated from MIT.
The campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, runs 18 student residences, many gardens and public works of art.
Admission to the university is super selective; about 8 percent of applicants got a place in the graduating class of 2019.
Their graduates are quickly snapped up by top companies, including Google, Amazon and Apple.
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