EUNICAS, European University Central Application Support Service

A new system of ranking countries said to be the ‘best’ at providing higher education was published recently by Universitas 21, the 15-year-old global network of 23 leading research-intensive universities*

The top 10 countries, including seven EU countries, claimed to be best at delivering higher education are:

1. US
2. Sweden
3. Canada
4. Finland
5. Denmark
6. Switzerland
7. Norway
8. Australia
9. Netherlands
10. UK.

[Other EU: 12. Austria; 13. Belgium; 15. France; 16. Ireland; 17. Germany; 24. Spain; 26. Czech Republic; 27. Poland; 30. Italy; 31. Bulgaria; 33. Roumania; 34, Hungary; 35. Slovakia]

[Other Non-EU include: 11. Singapore; 14. New Zealand; 18. Hong Kong; 20. Japan; 21. Taiwan; 22. Korea; 39. China]

The report outlines how “It aims to highlight the importance of creating a strong environment for higher education institutions to contribute to economic and cultural development, provide a high-quality experience for students and help institutions compete for overseas applicants,” according to a release from the network.

Researchers reviewed the most recent data from across 20 different measures grouped under four headings: resources (investment by government and private sector); output (research and its impact, as well as the production of an educated workforce to meet labour market needs); connectivity (international networks and collaboration, which protects a system against insularity); and environment (government policy and regulation, diversity and participation opportunities). Population size is also taken into account in the calculations.

The researchers found that government funding of higher education as a percentage of gross national product was highest in Finland, Norway and Denmark. But when private expenditure was included, funding was highest in the US, Korea, Canada and Chile.

Investment in research and development was highest in Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, and although the US dominated the total output of research journal articles, Sweden was found to be the biggest producer of articles per head of population.

According to the report, the nations whose research has the greatest impact are Switzerland, The Netherlands, the US, the UK and Denmark. While the US and UK have the world's top institutions in rankings, “the depth of world-class higher education institutions per head of population” is best in Switzerland, Sweden, Israel and Denmark.

The report suggests that “international rankings of universities emphasise the peaks of research excellence. They throw no light, however, on issues such as how well a nation’s higher education system educates all its students, possessing different interests, abilities and backgrounds.

“While there are a number of well-regarded global rankings of individual institutions, these don't shed any light on the broader picture of how well a nation's system educates its students, the environment it provides for encouraging and supporting excellence,” he said.

“Students choose countries to study in as much as individual institutions and the Universitas 21 ranking offers clear data to support decision-making."


* Universitas 21 comprises: University of Amsterdam, University of Auckland , University of Birmingham, University of British Columbia, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile • University of Delhi, University of Connecticut , University College Dublin [UCD], University of Edinburgh, Fudan University, University of Glasgow, University of Hong Kong, Korea University, Lund University, McGill University, University of Melbourne, Tecnológico de Monterrey, University of New South Wales, University of Nottingham, University of Queensland, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, National University of Singapore, University of Virginia, Waseda University