Nigerian varsities missing from top 400 rankings

BY LAJU ARENYEKA, with Agency Reports

ABUJA—No Nigerian University made the list of the top 400 in the world according to rankings by the Times Higher Education, THE, for 2012-2013. The only African Universities on the list are based in South Africa.

According to the report, the University of Cape Town which ranks 113 in the world with 55.8, ranks as number one in Africa. South African universities also came in second, third and fourth on the African scene with the universities of Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch and Kwazulu-Natal, respectively scoring 226, 251 and 351 overall.

According to THE, California Institute of Technology, United States, with overall score of 95.5, came first, while University of Oxford, United Kingdom and Stanford University in United States shared second place.

American universities dominate the Times Higher Education global rankings for 2012-13, occupying seven of the top 10 spots, but Asian institutions are on the rise as reflected in the report.

The ranking shows the California Institute of Technology retained number one position, but Harvard University dropped from the second position it shared with Stanford last year, to number four as the University of Oxford and Stanford shared second place.

The top 10 group is relatively the same as last year, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago.

The report said it employed 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

It said the methodology for the 2012-13 World University Rankings is identical to that used for the 2011-12 tables, offering a year-on-year comparison based on true performance rather than methodological change.

“Our 13 performance indicators are grouped into five areas: teaching – the learning environment (worth 30 per cent of the overall ranking score); research – volume, income and reputation (worth 30 per cent); citations – research influence (worth 30 per cent); industry income – innovation (worth 2.5 per cent); international outlook – staff, students and research (worth 7.5 per cent).