The World and The Turkish Universities Rankings and Measurement Platform Comparisons

The youth, who aim to study abroad and turn to world universities, receive support from reliable and internationally authoritative platforms in performance measurement. Likewise, the decision to study abroad imposes a serious burden and responsibility on families, whether they receive financial support or not, in addition to a qualified education. Education is a serious matter and the choice of university becomes clear after careful research.

In this context, by the priority University Ranking Platforms that we discussed in our previous article, respectively;

- World University Rankings,

- Turkish University Rankings,

- Let's look at the Department-Based World University Rankings and make evaluations.

World University Rankings and Evaluations

When we evaluate the ARWU (Shanghai Ranking Platform) 2021 results; According to the results of the World University Ranking, the universities in the top three are Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge. This platform ranks the institutions in the top 1000. The schools that filled the first 15 places can be seen in the appendix. A new evaluation is made every year and there may be changes in the ranks. For this reason, looking at the ranking of the last year, as shown below, in order to see the development trend of the university in question, looking at the change in the last 5 years will give a clearer idea.

In the QS 2022 World University rankings shown in the picture above, MIT and Oxford are the 1st and 2nd, while Stanford and Cambridge Universities share the 3rd place. In the QS platform, university rankings are reported together with the previous year, and in this way, +/- changes in rank differences can be observed easily. For example, while MIT maintained its 1st place in 2021 and 2022, Oxford University, which was 5th in 2021, rose to 2nd in 2022. On the contrary, Stanford University, which was ranked 2nd in 2021, dropped one place down from 3rd in 2022. Cambridge, on the other hand, increased from 7th place in 2021 to 3rd place in 2022.

THE 2022 World University Ranking Platform (picture below) ranks the first 3; He has given to Oxford, Caltech and Harvard University. Universities that share the top 15 ranks of the platform are shown below. ARWU, QS, and THE rankings highlight different universities even in the top 3. However, the number of universities that are partners in the top 20 universities is not small at all. This proves that quality and reputable institutions can keep themselves at the forefront in every way, regardless of the criteria they are evaluated. This situation makes us say, “This must be what it means to be a Global World University”...

Turkish University Rankings and Evaluations

When we look at the place of Turkish Universities in the ARWU Ranking (picture above); Although Istanbul University, Dokuz Eylul University and Hacettepe Universities are in the top 3, unfortunately, even our best university is in the 400-500 range. Only 8 universities from Turkey were able to enter the top 1000.

When we look at the QS Turkey university rankings (picture below); While Koç University, Sabancı University and METU are in the top 3 places, even Koç University in the 1st place is in the range of 511-520. There are 8 Turkish universities in the top 1000. Our other universities are located in lower ranks, which negatively affects the image of Turkish Higher Education institutions as a global university.

If we take a look at the position of Turkish Universities on THE Platform and their ranking (picture above); Çankaya University, which ranks the best, is in the range of 401-500, while Koç University is in the 2nd place and Sabancı University is in the 3rd place. It is known that young and relatively newly established universities have an advantage in some platforms and a disadvantage in others in terms of measurement criteria when compared to universities with old and large student numbers. It would be more appropriate to evaluate the new universities with the rankings made in the young university category. 11 Turkish Higher Education Institutions are in the top 400-1000 range of THE World rankings.

Department-Based World University Rankings

ARWU also has topic-based rankings. If you are curious about the rankings in a specific branch, you can look at it accordingly and see different numbers from the university's overall ranking score. For example, in the appendix "Computer Science and Engineering", the top three in the world; 1. MIT, 2. Stanford, 3. UC Berkley. However, MIT is in the 4th place in the general ranking and UC Berkley is in the 5th place. The answer to your question, whether you should pay attention to the order of the university or the department you want to study, may vary from person to person, but it is my opinion; First of all, looking at the department order and then sorting it within the university order will give the most reliable result. We can summarize this issue as follows. For example, for a student who wants to study in Computer Engineering;

Department rank University rank Total rank Selection rank

toplam sırası en küçük rakama sahip Stanford, sonra MIT ve ardından UC Berkley’i önceliklendirmek doğru olacaktır. Bir diğer taraftan ilk 10 da yer alan üniversitelerin itibar değerleri çok yüksek olduğu için ister bölüm ister genel sırada olsun farklı tercihler de yapılabilir. Üstteki örnekte 3 üniversite de 1. sırada talep görebilir. Bu metod daha alt sıralardaki üniversite ve bölümleri sıralarken daha belirleyici olabilir. Bir diğer taraftan ilk 50 hatta ilk 100 de yer alan üniversitelere gerek başvurmak gerekse kabul almak oldukça zor ve rekabetçidir. İlk 20'de (aşağıdaki resim) kabul alınan her okulun fark gözetmeksizin gitmeye değer olduğunu söylemek hiç yanlış olmaz.

In QS Department-based rankings (picture above), if we evaluate it in terms of "Computer Science and Engineering"; MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon take the top 3 places. Unlike the ARWU platform, Carnegie Mellon has replaced UC Berkeley in the 3rd place in this list. In the continuation of the ranking, the location changes of the universities draw attention. As I mentioned in my previous article, the reason for this is due to differences in measurement criteria and method.

In THE Platform's department-based rankings (first image below), the ranking in the "Computer Science and Engineering" field; He has done it at Oxford, Stanford and MIT. Unlike the other 2 department-based ARWU and QS rankings, Oxford entered the list from the 1st place, and the ranks of the current Stanford and MIT universities in the top 3 were changed.

The world ranking of the universities in terms of all departments (second picture below) is also available on the institution summary page prepared on the basis of the platform. For example, the appendix contains all the detailed information on the Harvard page in the Shanghai Platform. Similar university detail reports were produced on QS and THE platforms.

As a result, there are over 25,000 universities in the world. The top 1000 of these universities are of interest to international students. When Turkish students see that the world performance rankings of domestic universities are far behind, they think that both the quality of the education to be received and the best local universities, which are in the 400-500 band at best, are not worth the stress and risk of preparing for the university exams that will take a lot of effort. This evaluation directs our young people to universities abroad, which provide the opportunity to apply by compiling the long-term success criteria without condemning them to the exam.

To find the right university, you have to dive into a vast ocean and find the university of your choice that accepts you. In fact, this is a great struggle in itself...

References:

Ranking / 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022

QS World University Rankings 2022