| NUS drops from 19 to 33 in global rankings | |||
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The Straits Times
THE National University of Singapore (NUS) took a tumble, from 19th spot to No. 33 this year, in the ranking of the world's top 200 universities published by The Times of London Higher Education Supplement on Thursday.
However, this is due to a new way of scoring, said QS, the careers and education group that compiled the much-followed ranking.
It said, with the change, NUS' previously high scores in certain categories such as the percentage of international faculty, did not give it much overall advantage this year.
On the other hand, NUS' low score on staff- to-student ratio affected its ranking.
Mr Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of London-based QS, said NUS continues to do well in all other categories.
NUS improved its score this year for the number of academic citations faculty members notched up. It scored 84 out of 100 here.
'There is no doubt it is one of the elite universities of the world,' said Mr Quacquarelli.
'NUS and NTU's placing in the top 100 are recognition of the quality of education that Singapore's universities offer.'
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) ranked No. 69 this year, down from its 61st spot last year. Singapore Management University is not ranked because of its specialisation in business.
There are six categories.
Forty per cent of the total score depends on what academics from around the world think of the universities; while global employers' keenness to recruit their graduates counts for 10 per cent.
The numbers of foreign students and staff a university attracts are worth 5 per cent each; and the ratios of students to staff and academic citations to staff count for 20 per cent each.
NUS president Shih Choon Fong said: 'NUS still has good standing' as one of the top 50 universities and as one of the top five in Asia.
He said NUS will continue to 'enhance students' experience and push for world class research'. He pointed out that NUS' effort in improving research is already showing in the citation score.
On the staff-student ratio, he said many universities in the United States have significantly higher budgets and endowments and can thus afford to keep their enrolments low and faculty counts high.
He added: 'We don't want to go and hire more faculty just to boost the numbers. We want to ensure they are top quality in their field.'
NUS currently has a 1,944-strong faculty, of which 52 per cent are from overseas.
Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and Yale universities maintained their top four positions for the second year. University College London and the University of Chicago join the top 10 for the first time.
Apart from NUS, the London School of Economics was also affected by the scoring changes, dropping from 17th last year to 59th this year. Stanford fell from sixth to 19th.
The universities of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kyoto, Beijing, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua and Osaka were other Asian institutions in this year's top 50.
Mr Martin Ince, contributing editor of The Times Higher Education Supplement, noted: 'The 2007 rankings show that the US and UK model of independent universities supported with significant state funding, produces great results, but they also prove that academic excellence is found on every continent.'
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