ANU On The Rise as MIT Takes The Top Spot

Tuesday 11th September

2012/13 QS World University Rankings

ANU On The Rise as MIT Takes The Top Spot

Top 700 universities published Tuesday 11th September www.topuniversities .com

London, 10 September: ANU moved up two places to 24th in the world in another strong performance from Australian universities in the QS World University Rankings. Australia’s total of seven universities in the top 100 is beaten by only the US and UK.

MIT tops the table for the first time ever ahead of University of Cambridge and Harvard University. Four UK and six US universities make up the top ten.
Harvard University slips to third, having topped the table every year between 2004 and 2009. In contrast, MIT has risen steadily up the rankings from 10th in 2007.

Global top ten

2012/13 QS World University Rankings -Top ten Australian universities

Despite the strong performance of leading institutions, several Australian universities have struggled to continue the upward trajectory established in recent years. Melbourne drops five places to 36, while Australian universities outside of the Group of Eight have suffered a general decline in year-on-year performance.

“Australia continues to punch above its weight, though the results reflect growing international competition, as well as certain domestic challenges”, says QS head of research Ben Sowter. “A slowdown in international student intake at Australian universities dating back to 2009 has coincided with a sharp rise in mobility among other leading institutions.”

This year's data shows that intake of international students at Australian universities has slowed markedly relative to that of other leading institutions.
The top 100 universities average nearly 10% more international students than in 2011, the biggest single-year increase in the rankings’ nine-year history.
Sowter states: “The unprecedented acceleration in global international recruitment reflects an escalating battle for talent. 120,000 more international students were reported by the top 500 universities this year, suggesting the global total may now exceed 4 million”.

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Notes to editors

QS Quacquarelli Symonds

Since 1990, QS has become established as the world’s leading network for top careers and education. Producers of the QS World University Rankings®, QS’s innovative research, events, publications and university solutions provide new ways of bringing universities into contact with the best and brightest students worldwide.

QS World University Rankings

The QS World University Rankings is an annual league table of the top 700 universities in the world and is arguably the best-known and respected ranking of its kind. Compiled by the QS Intelligence Unit in close consultation with an international advisory board of leading academics, the QS World University Rankings is widely referenced by prospective and current students, university professionals and governments worldwide. The purpose of the rankings has been to recognise universities as the multi-faceted organisations they are and to provide a global comparison of their success against the notional mission of remaining or becoming world-class. The rankings are based on four key pillars, research, teaching, employability and internationalisation.

The QS World University Rankings is a registered trademark

Scopus Database from Elsevier

QS Rankings use citation data from Scopus which is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality Web sources. Its unique database contains abstracts and references from over 18,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. Scopus is a trusted source of bibliometric data, also used by many other organisations including: the OECD, the Australian Research Council, iFQ ( Institut für Forschungsinformation und Qualitätssicherung) and ISTEP (National Institute of Science and Technology Policy of Japan).

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