US News & World Report, the global authority in education rankings for more than 30 years, announced the 2019 Best Global Universities rankings at the end of October. In its fifth year, the rankings evaluate 1 250 schools across 75 countries, providing the most comprehensive assessment of research universities around the world.

Universities in the US and United Kingdom remain at the top of the rankings. The top four schools are in the US, with Harvard University leading at No 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University follow at No 2 and No 3, respectively. The University of California-Berkeley takes the fourth spot, and the United Kingdom's University of Oxford finishes out the top five.

For South Africa, the University of Cape Town remains the top university locally, and in Africa, sitting just outside the top 100, followed by the University of Witwatersrand, which placed 197^th overall.

All of the locally placed universities improved their positions in 2018, except for UCT (losing a single place) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which was unmoved.

The University of Johannesburg moved up one position, overtaking the University of Pretoria—while Nelson Mandela University joined the rankings at 1 112^th position.

This is how South Africa’s universities ranked.

Top universities in South Africa:

Law

When it comes to Law, five South African universities made the list of the top 187 universities in law, and Unisa moves up to number 3.

US leads rankings

With 227 schools ranked, the US has the most institutions on the overall list of 1 250 schools, followed by the following countries:

• China: 130
• U.K.: 78
• Japan: 67
• Germany: 62

“When we first started publishing Best Global Universities, the rankings evaluated 500 schools in 11 countries. Since then, we've added 750 schools and have expanded to 75 nations,” said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at US News. “One thing has remained the same: Schools that prioritise quality academic research remain at the top of the rankings.”

In addition to the overall list, the newest edition of Best Global Universities includes rankings by country, region and subject.

Three of the top 10 schools in engineering and four of the top 10 schools in computer science are based in China, with Tsinghua University coming in at No 1 in both subjects. Across the 22 subject rankings, which evaluate the humanities, applied sciences, mathematics and more, Harvard University ranks No 1 in more subjects than any other school, taking the top spot in 10 of these rankings.

These nations performed the best in the following subject rankings, listed in order of countries with the most schools on each list:

• Computer science: US, China, U.K., Australia (tie), Canada (tie)
• Economics and business: US, U.K., Australia, Canada (tie), China (tie)
• Engineering: US, China, U.K., Italy, Canada
• Neuroscience and behaviour: US, Germany, China, Italy, U.K.

Based on Web of Science data and InCites metrics provided by Clarivate Analytics, the Best Global Universities methodology weighs factors that measure a university's global and regional research reputation and academic research performance. For the overall rankings, this includes bibliometric indicators such as publications, citations and international collaboration. Each subject ranking has its own methodology based on academic research performance and reputation in that specific area.

“Higher education continues to be more global, meaning that prospective students are looking beyond universities in their country when thinking about where to enrol,” said Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at US News. “The Best Global Universities rankings offer students the resources to begin their search, whether they're interested in a specific part of the world or subject for study.”

2019 US News & World Report Best Global Universities

Overall Best Global Universities—Top 10

1. Harvard University (US)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
3. Stanford University (US)
4. University of California—Berkeley (US)
5. University of Oxford (U.K.)
6. California Institute of Technology (US)
7. University of Cambridge (U.K.)
8. Columbia University (US)
9. Princeton University (US)
10. University of Washington (US)

Africa—Top 10

1. University of Cape Town
2. University of Witwatersrand
3. University of KwaZulu Natal
4. Stellenbosch University
5. University of Johannesburg
6. University of Pretoria
7. Cairo University, Egypt
8. Makerere University, Uganda
9. Mansoura University, Egypt
10. North West University

Asia—Top 3

1. National University of Singapore
2. Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
3. Tsinghua University (China)

Australia/New Zealand—Top 3

1. University of Melbourne (Australia)
2. University of Sydney
3. University of Queensland (Australia)

Europe—Top 3

1. University of Oxford (U.K.)
2. University of Cambridge (U.K.)
3. Imperial College London

Latin America—Top 3

1. Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil)
2. Pontificia University Católica de Chile
3. State University of Campinas (Brazil)

The Best Global Universities rankings serve the broader US News mission of providing trusted information and rankings—such as Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools and Best Online Programs—to help all students navigate their higher education options. For Chinese students in particular, US News offers online resource centres published in Chinese to help guide prospective undergraduate and graduate students interested in studying abroad. In addition, US News collaborates with US News Global Education, a subsidiary company of Shorelight Education, to help international students and their families connect with universities.

For more information on the Best Global Universities, visit Facebook and Twitter using #BestGlobal.

About US News & World Report

Celebrating its 85^th year, US News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and Civic, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, US News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

*Compiled by Sharon Farrell

SOURCE: US News & World Report