{"id":77373,"date":"2025-06-26T00:52:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T04:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=77373"},"modified":"2025-06-26T00:52:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T04:52:26","slug":"global-rankings-fuel-hype-but-students-have-more-to-consider-when-choosing-a-uni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/global-rankings-fuel-hype-but-students-have-more-to-consider-when-choosing-a-uni\/","title":{"rendered":"Global rankings fuel hype, but students have more to consider when choosing a uni"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

At this time of year, many year 12 students are seriously turning their minds to the future. Should they go to university next year? If so, which one?<\/p>\n

June is also the start of the global ranking season. Last week saw the release of the QS Quacquarelli Symonds\u00a02026 world university rankings<\/a>, amid reports of a \u201cwake-up call<\/a>\u201d for Australian universities. About 70% of Australian universities\u00a0fell in the rankings<\/a>\u00a0albeit only by small margins.<\/p>\n

Should students be worried about this? What should they \u2013 and the rest of us \u2013 understand about global rankings?<\/p>\n

What are rankings?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Global university rankings aim to evaluate all universities in the world through a a single\u00a0comparative framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Apart from QS, other high-profile global rankings include those by\u00a0Shanghai Ranking<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Times Higher Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Each ranking system has a slightly\u00a0different focus and methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

QS looks at student-to-staff ratios, student employability, the reputation of the university as an employer, sustainability, global engagement and academic citations. It also\u00a0ranks specific subjects<\/a>\u00a0across universities, which can be helpful if you want to know about the quality of teaching in a particular discipline or field.<\/p>\n

It is comprehensive. QS included 36 of Australia\u2019s\u00a043 universities<\/a>\u00a0in their latest assessment. These universities were also compared to more than 1,400 other institutions across 105 other countries.<\/p>\n

What impact do rankings have?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

These rankings are\u00a0promoted as objective indicators<\/a>\u00a0and markers of prestige. They\u00a0can be very influential<\/a>\u00a0in terms of attracting potential donors and students.<\/p>\n

One analysis\u00a0suggests<\/a>\u00a0academic rankings are more influential than are research results for attracting philanthropic investment in Australian universities.<\/p>\n

The rankings\u00a0can also directly affect<\/a>\u00a0the resources available for students.<\/p>\n

We know rankings\u00a0can influence<\/a>\u00a0where international students (and the resources that accompany them) go. Australian universities have long relied on fees from international students to support\u00a0funding shortfalls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rankings are not everything<\/strong><\/h4>\n

But global rankings have\u00a0many critics<\/a>. They may include a lot of information but this is not necessarily\u00a0what students in diverse situations and locations need<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The rankings also do not reflect how much time and how many resources some universities\u00a0put into<\/a>\u00a0the information that goes back to the ranking process.<\/p>\n

In November 2023, an independent expert group, convened by the United Nations issued a\u00a0statement criticising<\/a>\u00a0the rankings system.<\/p>\n

It said \u201cthe very idea of global university rankings is fundamentally flawed\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is simply not possible to produce a fair and credible global league table of universities given their multiple missions and their diverse social, economic and political contexts around the world.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It also noted the rankings advantaged \u201chistorically privileged institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n

The statement also said there was a bias towards the English language, certain types of research, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. \u201cThis undermines the importance of teaching and of the humanities and social sciences,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

A bias against regional unis?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The rankings also do not favour regional universities, which is particularly relevant for Australian students.<\/p>\n

The QS 2026 survey shows four regional Australian universities slipped in rank and all are positioned outside the global top 400.<\/p>\n

This shows how global rankings are a blunt instrument and don\u2019t account for\u00a0the broader place of universities<\/a>\u00a0in regional areas. Here they\u00a0play a vital role<\/a>\u00a0in their communities, driving economic growth and providing essential services.<\/p>\n

What should prospective students consider?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Although universities within countries are ranked as better or worse than each other in a global league table, it is important to recognise specific national factors are not considered in the rankings. And individual student experience is rarely taken into account.<\/p>\n

Student experience includes the quality of teaching and the types of support individuals have access to, as well as the facilities and the culture on and around campus. We also know student experience continues to be affected by\u00a0loneliness in the post-Covid era<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So prospective students should be careful when it comes to making a decision about where to go to university. Rankings are a useful tool but so is talking to friends and family and going to open days.<\/p>\n

More than anything else, Year 12 students should know this is not the most important decision of their lives. They can take a\u00a0gap year<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0change degrees<\/a>. In fact many students do one or both of these things.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Kylie Message is Professor of Public Humanities and Director of the ANU Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At this time of year, many year 12 students are seriously turning their minds to the future. Should they go to university next year? If so, which one? June is also the start of the global ranking season. Last week saw the release of the QS Quacquarelli Symonds\u00a02026 world university rankings, amid reports of a […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[435409],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-77373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-uni-rankings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGlobal rankings fuel hype, but students have more to consider when choosing a uni - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/global-rankings-fuel-hype-but-students-have-more-to-consider-when-choosing-a-uni\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Global rankings fuel hype, but students have more to consider when choosing a uni - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At this time of year, many year 12 students are seriously turning their minds to the future. 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