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The University of Calgary has made a dramatic jump, passing four excellent schools to move into the top 10 universities in the world under 50 years of age, according to the 2014 Quacquarelli Symonds Limited (QS) Top 50 under 50 World University Rankings released on Tuesday.
For the fourth time in a row, the University of Calgary remains the top-ranked young university in Canada and, like last year, placed second in North America after the University of California at Irvine. Irvine maintained the seventh position both years. Calgary was six places behind Irvine last year at 13th; now Calgary is only two places behind Irvine at ninth position in the world.
“Our improvement in the QS 50 under 50 rankings clearly demonstrates that the University of Calgary is firmly positioned among the best young institutions in the world,” says Elizabeth Cannon, president of the University of Calgary. “For the University of Calgary to move into the top 10 against such impressive global competition, really speaks to our growing reputation, and the effort our university community is making to lead as a global intellectual hub.”
The QS Top 50 under 50 ranks universities that were established after 1964 and lists them based on their position in the QS World University Rankings. These surveys are the largest of their kind in the world. This year, more than 63,500 academic and nearly 29,000 employer responses contributed towards the results.
QS World University Rankings is widely referenced by prospective and current students, university professionals and governments worldwide. The purpose of the rankings is to recognize universities making an impact at the international level in a relatively short space of time, having rapidly established strong global reputations, research clout and internationally diverse academic communities.
The rankings are based on four key pillars: research, teaching, employability and internationalization. The QS World University Rankings evaluates universities according to academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty student ratio, citations per faculty, international students, and international faculty.
According to Ben Sowter, head of research at Quacquarelli Symonds Limited, the Top 50 under 50 list “aims to spot the up-and-coming higher education powerhouses in the global arena.”
Universities from Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea took the top five positions in this year’s rankings.