London’s Times Higher Education Moves University Higher

Global ranking puts BU 50th among research universities

BU moved up four notches in the latest Times Higher Education rankings. Photo courtesy of Times Higher Education

October 9, 2013
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THE rankings say BU is getting better and better.

That’s THE as in Times Higher Education magazine, which bumped the University up four spots, to 50th, in its latest report card on what it calls the top 400 universities worldwide. The University was the 30th highest ranked American school on the list, which was topped, as last year, by the California Institute of Technology.

THE (formerly part of the Times of London) uses 13 criteria to compile the ratings. The criteria are grouped in five areas—teaching, international outlook, research, research income from industry, and citations of faculty research—and BU most impressed the raters on the last one, which THE dubs its “flagship” indicator of excellence.

“We examine research influence by capturing the number of times a university’s published work is cited by scholars globally,” its website says. “This year, our data supplier, Thomson Reuters, examined more than 50 million citations to 6 million journal articles, published over five years,” in assembling the rankings.

In a nutshell, these measures “reflect faculty productivity,” says Melanie Madaio-O’Brien, assistant vice president for budget and institutional research. “For example, the score on research volume, income, and reputation increased, as did our score reflecting the number of citations. These measures are reflections of the quality of our faculty.”

Among New England peers BU outstripped in the rankings were Brown (52nd), Tufts (80th), Dartmouth (126th), the University of Massachusetts (132nd), Boston College (135th), Brandeis (164th), and Northeastern (184th). Again as last year, the United States boasts 7 of the top 10 institutions; the United Kingdom claims the other 3.

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  • Rich Barlow

    Senior Writer

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    Rich Barlow is a senior writer at BU Today and Bostonia magazine. Perhaps the only native of Trenton, N.J., who will volunteer his birthplace without police interrogation, he graduated from Dartmouth College, spent 20 years as a small-town newspaper reporter, and is a former Boston Globe religion columnist, book reviewer, and occasional op-ed contributor. Profile

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There are 4 comments on London’s Times Higher Education Moves University Higher

    1. The measurements used to determine the quality of the universities is adequate but it doesn’t really grasp the individual strengths, and doesn’t consider size. Penn State is an good school all round, but what makes it be so high is its very large student population. The criteria given here seems to be highly based on quantitative factors so Penn State has the edge. When compared to Penn State, BU has about 60% of its total population in students, and Brown has about 20%. Also BU and Brown are very focused on their undergraduates so they don’t get as much research publications, as well as other things in the ranking criteria. Especially Brown which is an ivy league school. Brown is EXTREMELY focused on their undergraduate students. So their graduate programs aren’t the best but their undergraduate studies are fantastic. So much so, that graduate chemistry students (which are already smart) are actually REQUIRED to go to undergraduate organic chemistry lecture because it is so in-depth and involved. But factors like this aren’t considered and they bring down the school.

      There are many other factors in play but these are a few. I understand this is a list of the best schools in the whole world so it is hard to incorporate such details. But I don’t think it is fair for this list to throw schools, like Brown, under the bus without specifying certain parameters of what makes these “the best schools in the world.”

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