Presumably, some time ago, U S. The days when News released the 2024 ranking of the best universities in the United States are still vividly remembered, and the new ranking of universities in the United States has undoubtedly stirred up another bloody storm in the study abroad circle.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the 24th year, the study abroad circle was hit hard again, and this time it was still an acquaintance who committed the crime:
U. S. News announced that it will not release global rankings this year!
A while ago, the official website even explicitly stated that if you want to check the ranking of global universities, you should look at QS and THE.
(Implied: Anyway, don't come to us, just be right.)

But just as the editor turned his head and prepared to join QS and THE, things took a new turn.
Recently, U S. News has updated its rhetoric on its official website and uploaded the top 10 list:

Although the figure mentioned that the global ranking of universities for 2024 had been released and displayed the top 10 universities, when Xiaobin wanted to view the complete list, the webpage automatically redirected to the 2020-2023 list. This also makes Xiaobin very puzzled
How to view ranking lists?
Currently, the top four globally recognized rankings:
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
U. S. News World University Rankings
QS World University Rankings
Academic Ranking of World Universities
All rankings differ in terms of ranking methods, data sources, and weights, so in the ranking results, there are significant differences among each university. So, how should we view these rankings?
Academic focus: ARWU>U.S. News=THE>QS
*The United States values U S. News; The UK values THE and QS more
Employment oriented: QS>THE>U.S. News>ARWU
QS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a well-known global university ranking system published annually by the education consulting company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) in the UK. This ranking system evaluates the performance of universities worldwide in various aspects such as teaching quality, research impact, employer reputation, and internationalization.

Measurement criteria:
Academic reputation 30%
Employer reputation 15%
Teacher student ratio 10%
The citation rate of teacher's papers is 20%
International teacher proportion 5%
International student proportion 5%
International research network 5%
In addition to the overall world university rankings, QS also publishes rankings for specific disciplines, regions, and other categories, such as world university regional rankings, subject specific rankings, etc.
Although QS ranking has received widespread attention and use, it also faces some criticism and controversy, including issues with the reliability of its evaluation methods, accuracy of data sources, and authority of ranking.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE Rankings) are a collaborative effort between Times Higher Education magazine and multiple global education experts. This ranking is also one of the most recognized and used university rankings in the world.
Measurement criteria:
Teaching: 29.5%
Research environment: 29%
Research quality: 30%
International outlook: 7.5%
Industry: 4%

However, THE rankings may overly focus on academic research and overlook evaluations of teaching quality, student satisfaction, and other important aspects.
Many students have also raised doubts, pointing out that there may be bias in THE rankings. Local universities in the UK have higher rankings, while American universities have relatively lower rankings. Therefore, when referring to THE rankings, it is necessary to pay extra attention to this point.
Ranking of World Universities in Soft Science
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is a global university ranking published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Measurement indicators:
Educational therapy: 10%
Teacher quality: 40%
Scientific research achievements: 40%
Per capita performance: 10%
Compared to other ranking systems, soft science rankings focus more on academic and research indicators, and are more inclined towards colleges of science and engineering. Therefore, it does not fully reflect the overall strength of the university, such as student experience and community services.
In two months, students will have to go through school selection, which will be one of the few major decisions that will affect their entire lives. So Xiaobin suggests that everyone should still consider carefully, not blindly pursue rankings, and choose the school that suits them according to their own situation.
For students who want a complete list or want to learn more about study abroad consultation, they can scan the QR code~