No Nigerian university is in the first 700 higher institutions of learning in the world and the first 18 in Africa, according to the QS World University Rankings 2015/16.
However, South Africa has nine institutions while Egypt has five. Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have one institution each.
“This is the 12th edition of QS’s annual ranking of the world’s top universities, which uses six performance indicators to assess institutions’ global reputation, research impact, staffing levels and international complexion,” the report said.
In Africa, the University of Cape Town, South Africa, is ranked first on the continent and 171st in the world. The Stellenbosch University, South Africa, is rated second in Africa and 302nd in the world. The University of the Witwatersrand is the third on the continent and 331st globally.
On the global scale, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States, scored 100 per cent to retain its top spot in the QS rankings for the fourth year consecutively. Harvard University (US) climbed two places to rank second, followed by the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), and Stanford University (US) in joint third. MIT came first in the 2012 global rating – a position which Harvard and Cambridge universities had once occupied – and has remained there ever since.
“The primary aim of the QS World University Rankings is to help students make informed comparisons of leading universities around the world,” stated the report. “Based on six performance indicators, the rankings are designed to assess universities in four areas: research, teaching, employability and internationalisation. Each of the six indicators carries a different weighting when calculating the overall scores (see below). Four of the indicators are based on ‘hard’ data, and the remaining two are based on major global surveys – one of academics and another of employers – each the largest of their kind.”
The reports said the universities were placed on 40 per cent scale of academic reputation; employer reputation, 10 per cent; student-to-faculty ratio, 20 per cent; citations per faculty, 20 per cent; international faculty ratio, five per cent; and international student ratio, five per cent.
A total of 82 countries are represented in the QS World University Rankings this year, with the largest shares claimed by the US (154), UK (71), Germany (43) and France (41). Japan has 38 entries; Australia, 33; China, 30; Canada and Italy, 26 apiece; Brazil, 22; and Russia 21. After the US, UK, Switzerland and Singapore, the highest entry is claimed by Australia, with the Australian National University in joint 19th. France makes its first appearance with the École Normale Supérieure (ENS Paris) in 23rd place, followed by Canada’s McGill University in 24th. China’s top entrant, Tsinghua University, climbs 22 places to rank 25th while the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology gains 12 positions to reach 28th
