Characteristics of Highly Ranked Universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings

Abstract

The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings include a list of the top world universities based on the indicators of teaching, research, citations, industry income, and international outlook. While an in depth analysis of the methodology THE employs helps universities to better understand the influential university characteristics, it does not point specifically to how other factors, identified in the literature as important to a world class global university, do or do not play a role in the university’s rank. This research, therefore, attempts to explore other university characteristics that may be important to a university’s THE ranking. It includes the 78 universities from the United States that are ranked in the top 200 of THE.