Harvard University Tops the Shanghai Ranking Again

Harvard University has topped the Academic Ranking of World Universities published by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy for the 15^th consecutive year.

The Ivy League institution is one of 16 US universities in the ranking’s top 20, with Stanford University holding on to second place again this year. At third, up one place from last year, is the University of Cambridge, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – the best university in the world according to the QS World University Rankings – are in fourth.

The Shanghai Ranking is dominated by US and UK universities, with only one university in the top 20 coming from a different country. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich is ranked 19^th. China is well-represented lower down the table, with 57 universities in the top 500, but the highest-ranked Asian university is based in Japan. The University of Tokyo just misses out on a place in the top 20, ranking 24^th.

The ARWU ranking considers the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, as well as the number of highly cited researchers at a university and the number of articles published in particular academic journals.

For the first time ever, the Shanghai Ranking has been expanded beyond a top 500, with the universities ranked 501-800 included this year under the label “ARWU World Top 500 Candidates”. These are universities which are considered to have the potential to break into the top 500 in the future.

The complete top 20 in this year’s ranking can be found below.