THE Emerging Economies University Rankings 2018: new name, wider frame

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You may already have noticed something a little different about the 2018 edition of the Times Higher Education Emerging Economies Rankings – a small but significant tweak to its name.

Since first publishing this ranking in 2014, we have included in its title the famous “BRICS” acronym – coined in 2001 by the economist Jim O’Neill to highlight the major emerging economic powerhouses of Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa added later. But now we have dropped the “BRICS” from our name.

This move is in no way to diminish the importance of the BRICS nations in global higher education – indeed, China in particular is now clearly established as a world higher education superpower competing alongside the traditional Anglo-American heavyweights. Russia is making solid progress on the global scene with its ambitious “Project 5-100”, which aims to propel five universities into the ranks of the world’s top 100 by 2020. And India has launched its own version of the “excellence initiatives” that have raised standards in many emerging economy higher education systems: its “Institutions of Eminence” plans will allow a select group of up to 20 leading institutions from both the public and private sectors to embrace global competition with additional funding and unprecedented levels of institutional autonomy.

Our name change is not about belittling any country’s hard-won achievements but rather aims to recognise the exceptional strength in the wide diversity of the emerging economy nations, BRICS and all.

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Any nation deemed an emerging economy by the FTSE Group’s Country Classification process is included for analysis in this ranking. This edition includes a total of 42 nations represented among more than 350 institutions ranked.

The ranking includes the “MINT” nations predicted to become economic giants – Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. It also takes in most of the group that THE itself labelled the “TACTICS” – Thailand, Argentina, Chile, Turkey, Iran, Colombia and Serbia – which appear to be particularly poised for success in higher education, with young populations, strong growth in higher education participation and expanding research output.

So a subtle change to the name of this ranking represents a far less subtle change taking place in global higher education – the rise of a rich and diverse range of nations, spread across the globe, powered by higher-level skills, talent, research and innovation. We are delighted to celebrate that. 

Phil Baty
Editorial director, global rankings

Countries/regions represented in the Emerging Economies University Rankings 2018

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