China and COVID-19 Threaten America’s Higher Education Status



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For a long time, the United States higher education system has competed only with the United Kingdom and Of Europe the best universities in terms of global reach and the attraction of the best students, teaching talents and researchers. But, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) 2021 World University Rankings and a recent THE survey of 200 world higher education leaders on their views related to the COVID-19 pandemic, outside of their elite institutions, education America’s top reality of decline and great challenges if it is to maintain its position on the world stage.

With a track record of occupying 8 out of 10 positions in world-recognized rankings, it could easily be assumed that US higher education is in good health, but from the evidence it is clear that Chinese universities are moving forward.

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Continent From China Tsinghua University becomes the first Asian institution to enter the top 20 of the world university rankings, claiming to be joint 20th this year, while the country’s representation in the top 100 has doubled year after year, from three in 2020 to six in 2021. In 2016, China It had only two universities in the top 200, in 2021 that number is seven.

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And outside of the elite band of the top 200, American institutions have been on a steady downward trend since 2016 against their Chinese counterparts.

China shows a continuous succession

Also, when looking at the number of research citations published globally, a clear measure of the impact of a university’s research globally, Chinese universities have been closing the gap in the US for some time. For the first time in THE World University Rankings 2021, the citation scores of mid-range Chinese and American universities have started to converge.

The warning signs are compounded by the threats posed by the coronavirus pandemic and the potential impact on the international student movement and public funding. THE recent survey of 200 global university leaders showed that US leaders (25 respondents) are more concerned than their global counterparts, and particularly China, when it comes to the damaging impact that the coronavirus could have on the sector.

Only 51% of US leaders think science and research will become significantly higher priorities for the US government once the pandemic is over. This compares with 78% of its Chinese counterparts and 71% in the UK. Combined with concerns that science and research budgets from public and charitable sources will not increase after the pandemic (only 48% agree that budgets will increase from these sources, compared to 74% in China) If the opinions expressed in the survey materialize, the United States may have a difficult time funding the research compared to its international peers.

China closes the gap

This fear is compounded by the belief of 44% of US leaders that the pandemic will reduce the government’s willingness to invest in higher education over the next five years (compared to just 8% in China). Perhaps most troubling is the near-universal belief that the pandemic is likely to cause institutions to fail (92% in the US vs. 0% in the US). China).

With research and government funding at risk, other sources of funding could prove vital to success.

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Top 10 The World University Rankings for 2021

CLASSIFICATION 2021

INSTITUTION

COUNTRY

CLASSIFICATION 2020

CHANGE

one

Oxford University

UK

one

0

two

Stanford University

US

4

+2

3

Harvard University

US

7

+4

4

California Institute of Technology

US

two

-two

5

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

US

5

0

6

University of Cambridge

UK

3

-3

7

University of California, Berkeley

US

= 13

+6

8

Yale university

US

8

0

9

Princeton University

US

6

-3

10

Chicago University

US

9

-one

One area leaders could turn to is international student fees, but 92% of US leaders believe that COVID-19 will allow them to recruit fewer international students, compared to just 57% in China, and 67% in the UK, the only other nation to have institutions in the top 10 of the 2021 World University Rankings.

64% of US leaders agree or strongly agree that this reduction will have a significant negative effect on their institution’s finances and that this could be a longer-term challenge. 92% agree or strongly agree that there will be less interest from students in studying abroad over the next five years.

Together, the 2021 world university ranking and the survey of world leaders (conducted in May 2020) paint a troubling picture for the US that it might see From China The rise through the rankings will accelerate and a dramatic rebalancing of the global knowledge economy in the years ahead.

Phil Baty, THE Chief Knowledge Officer commented: “THE 2021 World University Rankings are a real wake-up call for the US higher education system, which has long dominated the global knowledge economy alongside the UK. A trend continues in the last five years that has seen the rapid rise in China break into the top 100 at the expense of Western institutions. The specter of COVID-19 remains to be seen, but it is clear from our leaders ‘survey that with no long-term commitments to funding and the ability to reduce reliance on international students’ fees, China is in the first position to profit at the expense of the United States on the world stage of higher education “.

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