MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
US and UK dominate top twenty of QS World University Ranking of 2013
United States colleges and universities have once again dominated the QS World University Rankings of 2013 with six prestigious institutions featuring in the top 10. The remaining four places have been occupied by British universities. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesAmazing effort.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 12:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0Also extremely proud that MelbUni came in at 31 just behind ANU at 28.
The 'top' South American universities:
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0[Top 20: Order of Seniority]
Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Universidad de Chile
Universidad de Los Andes Colombia
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Universidad Austral - Argentina
Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina Santa María de los B. A. - UCA
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA)
Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)
Universidad de San Andreas
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Universidad de Santiago de Chile - USACH
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP)
Universidad de Antioquia
Universidad de Palermo
Well done to Sao Paulo at 127. They consistently score well for South America.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 08:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0Universidad de Buenos Aires doesn't make the top 200 which underscores the points made here many times about the level of education in Argentina. It might be free but it is poor.
#2 and that SA 20 translate into what on a world scale?
Sep 11th, 2013 - 09:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0These top 20 are in the top 500 in the world. There are thousands of universities across the globe.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 09:52 am - Link - Report abuse 0Developed countries have had hundreds of years to pump in money to build university infrastructures and to establish 'giving programs'.
They need a good complete education system to have been running for generations to feed through into university teaching and research, which in turn feeds into the criteria exemplified here in these rankings.
South America has been conspicuously poor in all these things, so getting a handful in the world's top 500 is as good as it gets.
Gosh! Our tiny country leading the world once more. And, RGland consigned to the third world yet again... its the right place for it.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 09:52 am - Link - Report abuse 0There is some merit in the idea that developed world universities have had longer etc. but there is a broader perspective. These 500 year old universities were not for the masses. You could also argue that it magnifies the disparity between the development of the USA and South America over a similar period of time.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 10:05 am - Link - Report abuse 0But my comment was really for the rabid Peronistas that repeatedly claim on here that Argentina has the best university education system anywhere. It doesn't. Why point it out? Because it just might get through that they should and could have a much more developed country if they could but see it.
From what Tobi has said in the past about taking university courses that revolve around how the “evil Imperials have exploited poor innocent South America” it seems Argie universities are less about inspirational education and more about self-pitying indoctrination. No wonder they can't even crawl up to the very bottom of the rankings.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 10:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0Oh well done Massachusetts Institute of Technology!
Sep 11th, 2013 - 10:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0and Harvard University!
Hey Pops.....you must be proud.....the place to be!
While I don't disagree with the point above regarding elitism and some Universities on the list - the fact is that Bristol at 30, Manchester at 33 and Glasgow at 51 are neither elitist nor ancient and yet are very high up the list also. Thus, sufficient time has passed in SA to get a couple of Universities higher up this list - Chile and Brazil have done the best so far. Since they all shook off the chains at the same time (more or less), I would be interested in an Argentine perspective as to why Chile and Brazil are up there, but Argentina isn't. And furthermore, what are they doing / going to do to get themselves up the ranking?
Sep 11th, 2013 - 11:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0@10
Sep 11th, 2013 - 12:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Chile and Brazil, like the USA and Europe, have privatized university systems.
Like any privatized system, it tends to perform very well by excluding the vast majority from access.
Completely public universities do poorly in such rankings because they encompass the entire society of a country. “MIT”, “Cambridge”, etc, encompass only the top 0.01% of your societies, so to even devise such a list on such parameters is flawed and shows you how having such “prestigious” universities has little effect on actual intelligence in the real world, since here I am a poor peasant from backwards Mendoza pointing out the entire list is utterly flawed based on that fact.
It is like me staging a game between Argentina's national baseball team and a random baseball team of American citizens assembled from the street, Argentina wines... and thus I proclaim Argentina plays “better” baseball then the USA.
Took a peasant from Mendoza to unveil the ridiculous veneer of this survey, taking a University that admits every citizen vs another (MIT), that admits only 0.00001% of not only the citizens of their country, but the entire world's pool of talent.
See for yourself
Sep 11th, 2013 - 12:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2013
@11 I know you told us you are poor but don't put yourself down, you are not a peasant. Unless you are using the urban meaning.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 01:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You should consider a few more facts. All UK universities were until very recently free at the point of use. Even now poor students can attend free. So, that doesn't really support your argument.
Something else to consider is the education prior to entering university. In the UK it is free at the point of use for 93% of the population. However the 'free' education provided in Argentina and the UK simply cannot be compared in quality. I have visited school in Buenos Aires and they are appallingly underfunded, the teaching staff a rarely paid on time and constantly strike. But that aside, the curriculum is just awful and the government propaganda machine interferes too much for it to be valid.
Imagine if instead of pouring $3 million per day into a failing airline the government put that money into public education. An educated population is the foundation for a country becoming developed.
@11
Sep 11th, 2013 - 01:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0All 120 universities in the UK are fee paying and this does not exclude the majority from access.
11 The Truth PaTroll
Sep 11th, 2013 - 01:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You are mis-informed. Most European, including British Universities are not privatised. British Universities are fully funded by the State. There is only one private University: The University of Buckingham, which is a non-profit making charity.
British and American Universities are not socialy elitist. Most American Universities have very generous assistance programs for poorer students. Harvard University (for example) accepts people from all backgrounds. In 2011-12 the University spent $166M in assistance grants to poorer students. Any student whose family income is less than $65,000 pays nothing towards their education.
In Britain every student is entitled to take out a loan to pay for their University education no matter which University they go to, and they don’t have to repay a penny until they leave University and are earning more than £21,000. The repayments are set low so someone earning the average salary of £25,000 would pay only £30 per month.
All the top British Universities go out of their way to attract the best students from all backgrounds. Top Universities by definition are intellectually elite institutions attracting the best students. Exams have to be passed and potential students need to impress at interviews. If your not good enough to excell at 'A' Levels you will never get to Cambridge no matter how rich you or your family may be.
Cambridge University affiliates have won 89 Nobel prizes with Trinity College alone winning 32. The whole of Argentina has only won 5. Thats the value of a good education.
TTP #11
Sep 11th, 2013 - 01:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The list contains 'private' as well as 'public'/federal universities ... like English 'old' and 'new'/polytechnics. No value judgements, no social semantics, just ranking on the criteria.
The key criterion for high positioning is RESEARCH ...
Very expensive, predominantly applied, backed with major funding from multinationals and endowments ... few developing world unis stand a chance in a funding environment geared to the developed world.
(In this part of the world the big money goes into politician's pockets, not into university endowments.)
I reiterate with modification - 'getting a handful in the world's top 500 is as good as it is going to get'.
“Argentina's Long-Suffering Universities”
Sep 11th, 2013 - 01:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/2453
@ Toby
Sep 11th, 2013 - 01:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Like any privatized system, it tends to perform very well by excluding the vast majority from access.”
I think about 50% of UK school leaves go through the university system. So we can shoot your argument down in flames right there.
In Chile we have a very poor education system, however it still produces more graduates per head than Argentina. So yet again you are wrong about the “vast majority” being excluded.
The good news is that in Chile we are smart enough to know that our educational system is a mess. We are bottom of the OECD tables which should make a rational person realize how badly the whole continent does in education.
Blaming the rankings won't improve education.
Astonished to learn that the Universidad de Buenos Aires has over 300,000 students! Thats pretty unbelievable. When I was studying philosophy at a top UK university there were normally no more than 20 students signed up for each course. So lectures took place in a small room around one table. The lecturers knew each student individually. When I submitted my essays (around 8 per year) I received them back at an individual tutorial where the lecturer or Professor would go over the essay with me for about 20-30 minutes. Is this quality of individual attention at University possible with so many students? I think not. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones and certainly appreciate it.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 02:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 016 is right it's all about money the US and the UK attract most overseas (money) students...Arabs etc.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 02:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0....and internal money students.
...and remember an Oxbridge degree magically becomes an MA whilst technically being a BA.
One small confusing note....a public school in the UK actually means a private school!.....Don't ask!
@20 It is not hard to understand really. Public schools make up only a very small number of fee-paying schools. They are long established schools originally set up as charities for children of families unable to afford private tutors.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 03:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Then there are regular fee-paying schools and state schools. 93% of pupils in the UK attend state schools.
@19 That seemed an astonishing number. Though thinking about it an awful lot of people I met in Buenos Aires claimed to be students there but never seemed to attend. I think it is one of the problems of making something entirely free; it loses value.
I remember when the last government in the UK set all kinds of targets for increasing the levels of attendance at University - this was before tuition fees - and more signed up but the drop out rate after one year was huge.
20 A_Voice (#)
Sep 11th, 2013 - 03:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Remember, wealthy overseas students have a choice; they don’t have to go to UK or American Universities if they don’t want to. They go because they are the best. A European student can pay up to £35,000 per year to attend a top British University, well; no one forces them to do this. They could go elsewhere if they want. They come because they receive the best education, their fellow students are amongst the most able, they have available the best facilities and the best academics. My friend who studied physics at trinity College Cambridge (the same college as Isaac Newton) was taught by Nobel Prize winners.
The term ‘Public School’ is often thought to be synonymous with fee paying school or independent school. This is not correct. It refers to those independent school s, originally Charterhouse School, Eton College, Harrow School, Rugby School, Shrewsbury School, Westminster School and Winchester College, which admitted anyone regardless of religious affiliation, profession or place of birth. Ampleforth College, a fee paying catholic School is therefore not a ‘Public School’
The term ‘Public School’ has fallen somewhat into disuse, as almost all fee paying Schools are open to all. The term ‘Independent School’ (that is, independent of Government finance and administration) is now the most common term and is preferred by the Schools themselves.
A_Hole
Sep 11th, 2013 - 04:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“a public school in the UK actually means a private school”
Obviously you don't live in Scotland.
But Argentina’s high dropout rates and the fact that even students who do graduate work take, on average, 60 percent longer to complete their studies than they should, means that many students reap these financial benefits late, if at all.4
Sep 11th, 2013 - 04:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Universidad Nacional de San Juan (UNSJ) mirrors these disheartening statistics. In 2009, there were just 587 students in the graduating class. That was out of an initial registration of 6,595 students and 3,865 enrolled. The graduates, on average, took 1.6 times longer to complete their studies. Five- or seven-year majors can stretch to eight or ten years—trends which have held for the past 10 years.
Carlos Borcosque, head of the Census and Statistics Office at the UNSJ, offered me a possible explanation. Enrolled students under the age of 25 can stay on their parents´ insurance plans, play in the university soccer league, and join the university sports and recreational club.
Since school and registration are free, students may annually re-enroll or switch to another major, intending to reap these benefits while not attending classes.
Well done US & UK......
Sep 11th, 2013 - 04:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Credit where credit is due, for those who cannot bring themselves to say it!
Oh for goodness sake.....my explanation was easier public schools meant private...
Sep 11th, 2013 - 05:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Just bloody well read it.....
The term public school refers to a group of older, more expensive and exclusive fee-paying private independent schools in the United Kingdom, particularly in England, which cater primarily for children aged between 13 and 18. Traditionally, these were boys' boarding schools, although most now allow day pupils and have turned either partially or fully co-educational.
Public schools have had a strong association with the ruling classes. Historically they educated the sons of the English upper and upper-middle classes. In particular, the sons of officers and senior administrators of the British Empire were educated in England while their parents were on overseas postings. In 2010, over half of Cabinet Ministers had been educated at public schools; by contrast, however, most prime ministers since 1964 were educated at state schools. In 2009, annual fees were up to £30,000 for boarders.
Boris and Cameron went to the same “Public School”.....ie: Private....Eton!
TQS rankings are skewed towards a specific set of measurements, however they still indicate certain qualities.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 05:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Geoffward2
Latam countries have been settled by Europeans for 500 years and many have been independent for 200. No different to the US.
You too quickly dismiss the value a society and successive governments place on education.
ANU ranked 28 - est 1946
UniMelb ranked 31 - est 1853
Some of the world's oldest universities are in Germany and don't rank highly. Sorry but there is more to it than your simplistic defence.
Nostrils
As per usual, you have no idea what you are talking about. Nearly all Australia's unis are public and free.
I haven't paid a single cent to study this year. Not one single cent. The fees I will pay can be repaid through the tax system when I earn enough. If I don't earn enough I never repay them.
As for admitting all students as opposed to stringent entry requirements. That is simply punishing and rewarding different people. Not everyone who wants to study should study. But everyone who could study should study.
For instance UniMelb alters requirements for rural students or students from families with parents who have never studied at Uni.
Your theories are wrong as well.
All you have done is prove that “a peasant from Mendoza” shouldn't be using up valuable resources in a university that could be investing those in a more capable students, no matter what their background is.
ElaineB is right. Imagine what $3 million dollars a day invested in education would do?
I am organising my exchange (Los Andes in Bogotá or Pontifica in Santiago) and I'll receive $200 per week allowance from my government while overseas and scholarships to pay for flights and insurance. Then I can also borrow up to $11,000 from my government.
After a year in South America, I'm thinking of doing a year in Germany.
Good unis are a reflection of the value societies place on education. Latam unis reflect Latam government policies.
Yes, well done US/UK unis. #25
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Though I was part of it, retirement makes it seem a long time ago. It was a long time ago.
I might have seen through around 3,000 graduates, but only a dozen or so remain in the forefront of my memories - and probably only because they were truly exceptional or because they were the focus of my youthful love.
They were - we were - beautiful people ... beautiful intellects.
We were.
Well Prime Minister John Major left school at 16 and he certainly never went to an independent school. But point taken. The trouble is the independent schools are so outstanding. They are easily amongst the best schools in the world. When you have to pay for something you tend to respect it more.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Likewise when almost anyone in Argentina who completes secondary education can enrol at a public University without having to make any effort it inevitably devalues the University system. To get in to Cambridge or Imperial College or Bristol University a student really has to work hard at school and achieve outstanding exam results. Often they will be interviewed by the University as well and will have to demonstrate their motivation, knowledge of the subject and intellectual rigour.
World class Universities like Cambridge also have enormous economic benefits. Cambridge is surrounded with business and science parks full of new businesses at the cutting edge of new technology. This included high tech niche manufacturing, software design, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information technology etc. Major global businesses such as ARM and Microsoft have R & D centres there. These Parks and businesses have strong links to the research departments of Trinity College amongst others. All are located there to benefit from the availability of talented University leavers and the spin-offs of world class applied research.
Open ended Universities like Buenos Aires may be available to all, but it is debatable if their students and the Country as a whole really get much benefit from this policy.
However it's not my Country and so Argentina can choose for itself what they want from tertiary education.
@27 I think you would love Chile.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@24 One of my friends in Buenos Aires has enrolled in three different courses at the University and not completed one. Five years wasted IMO. I guess it saves actually working for a living.
Rupert. Like your postings.
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 031 GeoffWard2 (#)
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Your very welcome. Delighted my posting are of interest.
Off to bed now so goodnight.
28
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Oh dear.....
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KODZtjOIPg
33 A_Voice (#)
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0A_ (rather bitter) Voice?
Perhaps you were never young, or maybe your wasted years have slipped away without leaving a bank of happy memories to draw upon in your mellow years?
Whatever the case I can't but help feel your being rather uncharitable.
All for tonight.
34
Sep 11th, 2013 - 06:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I thought I was giving him a trip down memory lane with that link....a classic...Mary Hopkins...
I just can't win!
35 A_Voice (#)
Sep 11th, 2013 - 07:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well if thats the case I am mistaken and you have my sincere apologies. It's getting late and perhaps my judgement is a little foggy.
I do like that old song, it has a certain melancholic beauty that appeals. Your right a classic song of the sixties.
See ya.
Damn you A_Voice!
Sep 11th, 2013 - 09:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I followed that link (love that song) and now it is nearly 2 hours later.
YouTube hole! Thank you it made work to faster.
Fear not Rupert,
Sep 12th, 2013 - 07:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0Re Think/A_Voice;
we treat each other like old friends
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpgGwGIqccc
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