Check out the 2022 top universities in the world, selected by Times Higher Education

Study abroad plans are slowly picking up pace among students from India. They are exploring different routes to surpass the border restrictions and travel to their favourite destinations. Now that things are settling back to the new normal, you might want to look at your options and more proactively plan your study abroad journey. Considering that, you’d want to know which are the top universities in the world that you can study at. While it might not be possible for all students to get enrolled in top-ranking institutions, learning about the rankings will definitely help you make informed choices. So let’s check out the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 which is the latest rankings available. If you have already made up your mind and are looking for the right guidance, contact our experts.

Points covered in this article:

• What should you keep in mind about the rankings list?
• Which universities made it to the top 10?
• Which are the top-ranking universities at the major study-abroad destinations
• How are the world’s best universities selected by Times Higher Education?
• Some interesting findings from this year's rankings list

What should you keep in mind about the rankings list?

Just a couple of things you should remember before you decide to make use of these rankings to guide you in your plans to study abroad:

• If you have been following the world university rankings closely, you’ll know that the top 10 are mostly shared by the same institutions over the years. Not all institutions can make it to the top of the list. But this does not mean that the others are not good enough.
• The top-ranking institutions might not be the best ones for ALL the subjects. Look for universities that rank the highest for your preferred subject.
• The THE World University Rankings assign points to institutions based on certain criteria or performance indicators. Look for universities that score points in aspects that matter to you. For eg; is it the number of international students or is it the academic reputation?
• Finally and obviously, rankings shouldn’t be the only deciding factor in choosing your university.

Which universities made it to the top 10?

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 boasts of being the most comprehensive university rankings to date. It assessed over 1600 universities across nearly 100 countries or territories. Let’s see who the toppers are:

The University of Oxford is the topper for the 6^th year in a row. It is closely followed by California Institute of Technology and Harvard University – both scored a similar overall score, bagging the second rank. The fourth in line is Stanford University.

Here are the first 10 in the list of the top universities in the world:

University of Oxford

California Institute of Technology (=2)

Harvard University (=2)

Stanford University

University of Cambridge (=5)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (=5)

Princeton University

The University of California, Berkeley

Yale University

University of Chicago

Which are the top universities at the major study-abroad destinations

Top universities in the USA

Close to 125 U.S. universities made it to the top 500 institutions in the world university rankings 2022 of which 23 of them made their way to the top 50. Here are the top 10 in the USA and their respective rankings:

• California Institute of Technology (=2)
• Harvard University (=2)
• Stanford University (4)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (=5)
• Princeton University (7)
• University of California, Berkeley (8)
• Yale University (9)
• The University of Chicago (10)
• Columbia University (11)
• Johns Hopkins University (=13)

If you are interested in pursuing your higher studies at any of the prestigious universities in the USA, please reach out to our counsellors and they will be able to guide you.

Top universities in the UK

Around 60 universities from the UK made it to the first 500 in the THE World University Rankings 2022. The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge bagged the first and 5^th ranks. A total of 8 institutions in the UK found their place in the first 50. Here are the top 10 in the UK:

• The University of Oxford (1)
• The University of Cambridge (=5)
• Imperial College London (12)
• UCL (=18)
• London School of Economics and Political Science (27)
• University of Edinburgh (=30)
• King’s College London (=35)
• The University of Manchester (50)
• The University of Warwick (=78)
• The University of Glasgow (=86)

Top universities in Australia

29 universities from Australia made it to the first 500 top universities in the world in the THE World University Rankings 2022. Only the University of Melbourne made it to the first 50. Here are the top 10 universities in Australia and their respective rankings:

• The University of Melbourne (33)
• Australian National University (=54)
• The University of Queensland (=54)
• Monash University (57)
• The University of Sydney (=58)
• UNSW Sydney (70)
• The University of Adelaide (111)
• The University of Western Australia (132)
• The University of Technology Sydney (143)
• The University of Canberra (=170)

Top universities in Canada

17 universities from Canada made it to the top 500 best universities in the World. Three of those made it to the first 50. Here is the list of Canadian universities with their respective rankings:

• The University of Toronto (=18)
• The University of British Columbia (37)
• McGill University (44)
• McMaster University (=80)
• The University of Montreal (=88)
• The University of Alberta (125)
• The University of Ottawa (162)
• The University of Calgary (201 – 250)
• Simon Fraser University (201 – 250)
• The University of Waterloo (201 – 250)

Canada is one of the popular study destinations preferred by Indian students. This proves that the university rankings are not the only factor that appeals to the applicants. If you would like to know more about the institutions in Canada and how to go to Canada for your higher studies, get in touch with our experts for answers and guidance.

How are the world’s best universities selected by THE?

Institutions submit their data to THE to be evaluated for ranking purposes. Each institution’s performance is assessed across 5 areas:

1. Teaching – which assesses the learning environment available to the students. This accounts for 30% of the total score. The performance indicators assessed under this area include:

• Reputation survey
• Student to staff ratio
• Doctorate to bachelor’s student ratio
• Doctorates awarded to academic staff
• Institutional incom

2. Research – which assesses the volume of research, the income from these research activities and the reputation. This area accounts for another 30% of the total score.  The performance indicators include:

• Reputation survey
• Research income
• Research productivity

3. Citations – which gathers information about the number of times an author from a particular university is cited in other research papers

4. International presence – which checks the number of international staff and students. The performance indicators used include:

• The proportion of international students
• The proportion of international staff
• International collaboration

5. Industry income or transfer of knowledge

Some interesting facts from the THE World University Rankings 2022

• A total of 2114 institutions submitted their data for consideration. Of these, 1662 were added to the list and were assigned a rank. 
• Not one, but two institutions from China made it to the top 20 of the THE World University Rankings 2022. 
• Macau University of Science and Technology has the largest international student ratio with 88% of the students being international students.
• Nippon Medical School in Japan tops the number of students per staff ratio. It is as low as 0.9%.

Hope you enjoyed reading about the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022. You can refer to our international student news page for the latest updates from the study-abroad field. For any questions regarding studying abroad, just fill the form on this page and our experts will contact you.