Best Universities in the World

Top Ten Universities for Science, Social Science and Humanities

© Alistair McCulloch

Nov 12, 2007

The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) has released its annual list of the world’s top-ranking universities. As in previous years, the 2007 rankings are dominated by English-speaking universities and, in particular, those from the US and the UK which monopolise the top ten.

The Full Top Ten Universities List

1. Harvard University (US)
2. University of Cambridge (UK)
3. University of Oxford (UK)
4. Yale University (US)
5. Imperial College London (UK)
6. Princeton University (US)
7. California Institute of Technology (US)
8. University of Chicago (US)
9. University College London (UK)
10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)

Outside the US and UK institutions, the highest ranking university is McGill University at number 12, with the Australian National University coming in at number 16, followed by the University of Tokyo (number 17) and University of Hong Kong (number 18).

Top Ten Universities - Natural Science

1. University of California, Berkeley
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. University of Cambridge
4. Harvard University
5. Princeton University
6. California Institute of Technology
7. Stanford University
8. University of Oxford
9. Cornell University
10. Yale University

Top Ten Universities - Life Sciences and Biomedicine

1. Harvard University
2. University of Cambridge University of California, Berkeley
3. University of Oxford
4. John Hopkins University
5. University of California, Berkeley
6. Stanford University
7. Imperial College London
8. Yale University
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
10. McGill University (Canada)

Top Ten Universities – Technology

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2. University of California, Berkeley
3. Stanford University
4. California Institute of Technology
5. University of Cambridge
6. Imperial College London
7. Carnegie Mellon University
8. Georgia Institute of Technology
9. University of Tokyo (Japan)
10. National University of Singapore (Singapore)

Top Ten Universities – Social Sciences

1. Harvard University
2. University of California, Berkeley
3. London School of Economics
4. Yale University
5. Stanford University
6. University of Oxford
7. University of Cambridge
8. University of Chicago
9. Princeton University
10. Columbia University

Top Ten Universities – Arts and Humanities

1. Harvard University
2. University of California, Berkeley
3. University of Oxford
4. University of Cambridge
5. Yale University
6. Columbia University
7. Princeton University
8. University of Toronto
9. University of Chicago
10. Australian National University (Australia)

How Were the Rankings Compiled?

The rankings are compiled by a process of peer assessment, drawn from a rolling three-year survey of over 5,000 academics across the world (40% of the final score comes from this survey), a survey of almost 1,500 graduate recruiters (10%), with the remaining 50% coming from quantitative measures including staff-student ratio (20%), research papers citation scores (20%), proportion of staff from overseas (5%) and proportion of students from overseas (5%).

That so many universities appear in each of the various discipline lists is not surprising given that the rankings give a heavy weight to institutional rather than discipline specific factors.

An Important Caveat: Top-Ranked Doesn't Necessarily Mean 'Best'!

In choosing a university it is also very important to remember that universities appearing in these (or most other) rankings as being ‘best’ may not offer the best student experience. That will depend on what a student wants from their university, how much support they need and the extent to which they are prepared to throw themselves wholeheartedly into their studies. These guides to the ‘top ten universities’ are just that – guides. They cannot provide a student with the answer to their specific question. For many students, an institution outside the top ten universities may well be the best choice.

The 2008 Times Higher Rankings

Details of the 2008 rankings from The Higher can be found here.

Harvard University - Best in the World?

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