Australian Universities' Review Publishes "University Rankings 2.0". (September 14, 2009)

Twice a year Australia's National Tertiary Education Union publishes the Australian Universities Review (AUR) "to encourage debate and discussion about issues in higher education and its contribution to Australian public life, with an emphasis on those matters of concern to NTEU members".

Volume 51, No. 2, 2009 contains a four page paper by Alex Usher of the Educational Policy Institute, Toronto, Canada, "University Rankings 2.0: New frontiers in institutional comparisons".

The author summarises his findings: The number of university rankings systems in use around the world has increased dramatically over the last decade. As they have spread, they have mutated; no longer are ranking systems simply clones of the original ranking systems such as US News and World Report. A number of different types of ‘mutation’ have occurred, so that there are now varieties of rankings around the world. The purpose of this short paper is to describe these mutations and examine likely future developments in rankings as they continue to spread across the globe.

Dr Usher concludes his short analysis with: "It has by now perhaps become trite to observe that ‘university rankings are here to stay’. But what is clear from this short survey is that not only are they certain to stay - they are also going to evolve. Already, we have seen tremendous mutations in terms of rankings’ purposes, methods of data collection, methods of data display, and choices of indicator. There is no reason to think that the innovation has yet stopped; indeed it is perhaps just beginning."

Click here to download Dr Usher's paper.