What do world university rankings really mean?

Over the last few decades, schools and universities from all over the world have been a part of a ranking obsession. Some rankings are state-sponsored and official, whereas some of the most famous education rankings - eg. Times Higher Education (THE) magazine's World University Rankings or Shanghai Rankings - are unofficial.

Are rankings a good measure of quality?

But do rankings really tell us anything substantive about the quality of the universities? Are they incentivising universities to improve or actually invite cynical 'gaming' of the system?

Ranking is a way to quantify qualities such as 'excellence' and 'world class', and remains an integral part of a student's decision making in university selection. Proponents of rankings would argue that rankings are necessary for ensuring that universities do not rest on their laurels and become complacent.

On the other hand, universities change what they value and how they operate, knowing it will affect rankings.

As administrators pore over the newest release of university rankings, agents and students would do well to bear in mind that whilst rankings are helpful for sifting through what feels like an unbearable amount of information from potential schools, they should not be the be-all-and-end-all of school selection.

Source: The Conversation