The 10 most popular World University Rankings stories of 2018

The past year has been record-breaking for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The flagship global table, published in September, was our biggest yet, with more than 1,200 institutions from 86 territories ranked.

We also published our first Europe Teaching Rankings, following on from the success of the student-focused Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings and Japan University Rankings.

And we are currently collecting data for a new ranking that will be the first to measure global universities’ success in delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The first edition will be published in April.

Below we share the most popular rankings stories of the year, based on website traffic. In all cases, the tables were devised, compiled and published by THE.

For more information on our university rankings, visit the World University Rankings home page.

10. In good faith: the role of religious institutions in US higher education

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This in-depth look at religious universities and colleges in the US drew on data from the WSJ/THE College Rankings 2019 to examine how they shape up compared with secular institutions and how they are adapting to modern mores.

9. THE World University Rankings 2019: in pursuit of more significant figures

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Duncan Ross, our chief data officer, assesses how the THE rankings have evolved so far and the possible routes ahead, following the publication of the 2019 World University Rankings.

8. THE World University Rankings 2019: evolution and expansion

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Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer at THE, announces the release of our World University Rankings 2019, which included more than 1,200 institutions for the first time.

7. THE World University Rankings 2019: a closer look

We delved into the figures behind our World University Rankings to reveal which countries were making the most progress on reputation, international outlook and industry income.

6. THE World University Rankings 2019: East closes in on West

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China’s leading universities soared up our 2019 World University Rankings, largely driven by improvements in citation impact, according to our in-depth analysis of the table.

5. University Impact Rankings: FAQs

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Our upcoming University Impact Rankings will be the first to measure global universities’ success in delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

4. Bull market: THE/WSJ analysis of business schools

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We gathered a unique set of performance data from business schools across the world, finding that while the two-year MBA remains extremely strong, shorter alternatives are becoming highly valued in a time-pressed world.

3. Top US technology universities lose ground in computer science and engineering

The University of Oxford became the first UK institution to top our computer science and engineering and technology subject rankings in November.

2. Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings 2018: results

Kyoto University joined the University of Tokyo in our second edition of the Japan University Rankings, based on the teaching and learning environments that institutions offer students.

1. World University Rankings 2019 by subject: four more results out now

And the most popular rankings article of 2018 was our story on the results of our clinical, pre-clinical and health; life sciences; physical sciences; and psychology subject rankings. Tsinghua University became the first institution in mainland China to feature in the top 10 of our life sciences table.