OT: University of Michigan stays at #12 in the world in terms of reputation
University of Michigan has maintained its rank at #12 in Times Higher Education World University Rankings of top universities in the world by reputation for 2013.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013/reputation-ranking/methodology
The reputation table ranks institutions according to an overall measure of their esteem that combines data on their reputation for research and for teaching.
The scores are based on the number of times an institution is cited by respondents as being the best in their field. The number one institution, Harvard University, was selected most often. The scores for all other institutions in the table are expressed as a percentage of Harvard's, set at 100.
So the University of Oxford received 73% of the number of nominations that Harvard received, giving it a score of 73 against Harvard's 100. This scoring system, which is different from the one used in the World University Rankings, is intended to provide a clearer and more meaningful perspective on the reputation data in isolation.
Other B1G Schools:
24. Illinois
30. Wisconsin
37. Northwestern
50. Purdue
54. Minnesota
56. Ohio State
58. Penn State
74. Michigan State
Nebraska - Unranked
Indiana - Unranked
Iowa - Unranked
It's great to see Michigan ranked in such high regard around the world, and nice to see that most of the B1G made the top 100.
I was surprised to see that Northwestern and USC lower than I thought they'd be. I also didn't see Notre Dame in the top 100 at all, did I miss it?
What are your thoughts?
It all depends on what level and disciplines are the focus. As others have mentioned, there is a heavy emphasis on science and research. Look at rankings for grad schools in science and engineering and you will find many state universities outranking Ivy League schools.
Science=Med:
- Harvard
- Johns Hopkins
- U Penn
- Stanford
- UCSF
- Wash U (St. Louis)
- Yale
- Columbia
- Duke
- Chicago
- Michigan
Engineering:
- MIT
- Stanford
- Berkley
- GT
- CIT
- Illinois
- Carnegie Mellon
- Michigan
- Texas
- Cornell
I think you're mistaken.
...seem slightly dishonest. They refer to it as a "World Reputation Ranking" and send out an "Academic Reputation Survey" but then they rather arbitrarily count the "reputation for research" at twice the value of "reputation for teaching." An excerpt from their methodolgy:
The reputation table ranks institutions according to an overall measure of their esteem that combines data on their reputation for research and for teaching.
The two scores are combined at a ratio of 2:1, giving more weight to research because feedback from our expert advisers suggests that there is greater confidence in respondents' ability to make accurate judgements about research quality.
Why 2:1? Why not 1.5:1 or 3:1 then? Or better yet, why not two seperate rankings, one for research and one for teaching?
As it is, it seems clear that this ranking favors research institutions and that clearly is a benefit to a school like Michigan. I'd have to concur with some of the sceptics that calling Michigan the 12th best university in the world seems rather inflated.