“US News and World Report, Forbes, Newsweek, Washington Monthly, College Confidential – it often seems that there are as many university rankings as there are universities to rank. But rankings’ popularity does not insulate them from attack …” (more)
[David Van Zandt, Huffington Post, 15 April]
“Over the last two years I’ve made the point numerous times here that world university rankings have become normalized on an annual cycle, and function as data acquisition mechanisms to drill deep into universities but in a way that encourages (seduces?) universities to provide the data for free …” (more)
[GlobalHigherEd, 12 April]
“Given that searches for UK university league tables are among the most frequent reasons for visitors to the blog, it seemed that another summary might come in useful. Four major league tables were published during 2011 for those considering 2012 entry …” (more)
[Registrarism, 2 April]
“Many university presidents and vice-chancellors greet the publication of the various global and regional rankings with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, some referring to rankings as an unavoidable ‘poison’ that is potentially ‘fatal’ in terms of some promising academic careers …” (more)
[Kevin Downing, University World News, 25 March]
“The quiz show, University Challenge, provides a plausible supplement to the established British league tables. If we award 2 points for winning and one for being runner up (I confess this is from Wikipedia) then we get this ranking …” (more)
[University Ranking Watch, 26 March]
“There are three types of rankings and ratings out there. The first are the ones published by The Globe and Mail, US News and World Report, and Maclean’s – essentially consumer guides which try to focus on aspects of the undergraduate experience. Then there are very quantitatively-oriented research rankings …” (more)
[Higher Education Strategy Associates, 19 March]
“What is going on with Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn? After a sparkling start in Education, he has endured several difficult weeks culminating in last week’s Morning Ireland interview where he struggled to answer questions on school buildings …” (more)
[Irish Times, 20 March]
“Over the last number of years the publication of the times higher education University rankings has prompted a veritable orgies of introspection amongst Irish higher education analysts and participants. Once again the news is not great …” (more)
[Brian M Lucey, 16 March]
“The Department of Education has said that ranking systems and league tables rating educational institutions should be interpreted ‘with caution’ …” (more)
[Irish Times, 15 March]
“The number of institutions ranked among the world’s elite has dropped in the last 12 months after Britain’s reputation for higher education was undermined by images of large-scale protests in Westminster, it is claimed …” (more)
[Graeme Paton, Daily Telegraph, 15 March]
“In a serious blow to the State’s international reputation in education, Ireland is not represented among the top 100 universities in the prestigious Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings published this morning …”(more)
[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 15 March]
“Irish universities are facing a tougher battle to be counted among the world’s elite, an influential new survey shows. When it comes to global reputations, high income universities in places like the UK, US and, increasingly, Asia are taking the top spots …” (more)
[Independent, 15 March]
“Abstract: A most unlikely collection of suspects – law schools, their deans, US.News & World Report and its employees – may have committed felonies by publishing false information as part of US News’ ranking of law schools. The possible federal felonies include mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, and making false statements …” (more)
[A Morgan Cloud and George Shepherd, SSRN, 2 March]
“NUI Galway has been awarded a five-star rating from the latest international QS Stars rating system. The university recorded top marks in the new rating, designed as an alternative to university rankings …” (more)
[Marie Madden, Galway Independent, 3 March]
“Deputy Liam Twomey asked the Minister for Education and Skills the fact that universities here have dropped out of the top 100 universities, the steps that can be taken to resource our universities to put us back in the top world rankings; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil Éireann Written Answers, 23 February]
“If you want to make a career in finance, Irish universities are not the place to do it, according to a new report. The latest QS Top Universities ranking for careers in accounting and finance shows no Irish university in the top 50, with Trinity the highest ranked at 55 …” (more)
[Peter Flanagan, Independent, 18 February]
“University rankings have been stirring up debate for a good few years, but everyone knows that going to university is about more than just choosing the most famous or prestigious institution. While we all naturally base much of our decision-making on identifying the best university and degree program, the city in which you choose to spend three or four years living and studying will shape your university experience …” (more)
[QS Intelligence Unit, 15 February]
“… at least, according to the latest ranking by QS. They’re quiet about the method, but if you click on any of the cities, you will find what matters to them …” (more)
[Richard Tol, Irish Economy, 15 February]
“Senator Jim Walsh: Following on from the previous discussion, the key to solving the problem of unemployment is undoubtedly education. However, there is a need to accelerate this, because there is a generation of people who cannot wait around. Their contributions, their talents and their lives will be lost as a consequence of not being able to obtain employment …” (more)
[Seanad Éireann, 9 February]
“Back in ancient times when I worked at esteemed weekly newsmagazine US News & World Report, I always loathed the annual college rankings report. Like all cash cows, however, the college guide was a sacred cow, so I just shut up about its obvious statistical absurdities and inherent mendacity …” (more)
[Stephen Budiansky's Liberal Curmudgeon Blog, 1 February]
