Trends

MIT Tops World College Rankings, as The Chase for International Students Heats Up

The latest rankings for top universities in the world have been published, with MIT overtaking Cambridge as the number one university in the world.

The biggest point in the rankings is the large increase over the last year of international character in the leading universities. Despite consistent growth in the number of international students over the past decade, the new rankings show the top 100 universities raising recruitment by almost 10% in a single year.

The numbers confirm growing competition for international students and schools’ reliance on their fees. With the marketplace getting more competitive, it suggests that international students are becoming more selective in their school of choice.

Currently in the UK, the government has started to crackdown on the number of student visa applications from outside the European Union (EU), intensifying the competition. Many people within UK higher education recruitment field will be watching London Met University’s appeal against its cancellation of its license to recruit students from outside EU, which will be heard in court on 21st September.

QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) rankings consist of analyzing staffing levels, international students, research citations, faculty and expert opinion. The poll has views from more than 46,000 academics and 25,000 employers.