These 6 South African universities are among the top 500 in the world

US News & World Report has published its 2021 best global universities rankings, which includes a list of the top 13 tertiary education institutions in South Africa, six of which are among the top 500 in the world.

The overall rankings span the 1,500 top institutions spread across 81 countries, up from 75 countries last year, and are the largest and most comprehensive assessment of research universities worldwide, he said.

The rankings put a particular focus on the results of the research of universities, as well as the reputation linked to that research, both locally and globally.

This includes bibliometric indicators such as publications, citations, and international collaboration. Each subject classification has its own methodology based on academic research performance and reputation in that specific area.

The 13 indicators analyzed by the group (and their weights) are:

• Global Research Reputation – 12.5%
• Regional Research Reputation – 12.5%
• Number of publications that are among the 10% most cited – 12.5%
• Percentage of total publications that are in the top 10% – 10%
• Publications – 10%
• Normalized dating impact – 10%
• Total citations – 7.5%
• International collaboration – 5%
• Percentage of total publications with international collaboration – 5%
• Number of highly cited articles that are among the top 1% cited in their respective field – 5%
• Percentage of total publications that are among the 1% of the most cited articles: 5%
• Books – 2.5%
• Conferences – 2.5%

The top 10 schools in the overall Best Global Universities ranking are similar to last year’s edition, with Harvard University in Massachusetts again topping the list, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University in California.

Johns Hopkins University in Maryland is the only new addition to the top 10, moving up one spot to 10th place. Princeton University in New Jersey fell out of the top 10 this year, falling from eighth place to a tie with Yale University in Connecticut for eleventh place.

Most of the top 10 schools are in the US, with the exception of two schools in the UK: the University of Oxford, in fifth place, and the University of Cambridge, in ninth.

The United States has more universities that qualified for the overall ranking than any other nation: 255.

China has the second largest number of institutions, with 176, and the United Kingdom has the third largest contingent, with 87. Universities in four countries that were not represented in the ranking last year made the cut this year: Algeria, Armenia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Top 10 Universities in the World:

South African Universities

South African universities rose greatly in the world rankings in 2020/21, with 13 institutes ranked.

The University of Cape Town remains the best university locally and in Africa, climbing to its highest point in three years at 103rd.

UCT is followed by the University of the Witwatersrand, which was ranked 192 overall, up from 200 last year.

Other universities that rose in the rankings include Stellenbosch University, UKZN, North-West University, Unisa, University of the Free State, and Tshwane University of Technology.

Notably, Unisa was the only university to change places in the local ranking, moving up one place above Rhodes University.

Rhodes, along with the University of Johannesburg, the University of Pretoria, the University of the Western Cape and Nelson Mandela University, were the local institutes that fell on the list.

Of the 13 ranked universities in South Africa, six ranked in the top 500 in the world – these are:

• University of Cape Town
• University of the Witwatersrand
• Stellenbosch University
• Kwa-Zulu Natal University
• University of johannesburg
• University of Pretoria

This is how South African universities were ranked.

Top Universities in South Africa:

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