Ranking Universities

This is the first of a couple of posts. In the Governor's State of the State earlier in the week, Schwarzenneger commented that California has three of the top universities in the world. Indeed, by most measures that is an understatement. For example, in the Shanghai Jiao Tong survey, which is cited by the Economist, the state has two of the top five (Stanford at 3 and Berkeley at 4) or three of the top ten (add Caltech at 6). The Newsweek indicators rank Stanford (2), Caltech (4), Berkeley (5) and UCSF(9). Webometrics ranks Berkeley (1) and Stanford (4) in the top ten. What is more striking about the US and the California record is a bit farther down the list. In the top 25 of Jiao Tong only six (Cambridge (2), Oxford (10), Tokyo (19), Kyoto(22) and Imperial (23) and Toronto (24) are not US universities. In the Newsweek rankings that number is also nineteen but a different set. In the Webometric rankings only two non US universities break into the top 25 (Cambridge and Oxford). The Times of London rankings are a bit kinder to British universities putting three UK universities in the top twenty and five more non-US universities in the top twenty.

So what does this all mean? First, it suggests that the state has an enormous investment in cutting edge research in a variety of campuses. Among top ranked universities Massachusetts always has two (Harvard and MIT) while California, when you go down a short way on any list, has a bunch (in addition to the ones listed in every list USC, UCLA, Davis, UCSF, San Diego) and a set of comers (most of the rest of the University of California campuses. Second, the synergies in California between top flight research universities and commerce are hard to miss. The Silicon Valley is between Berkeley and Stanford. At one point the Center for the Study of the California Economy suggested that of our five fastest growing sectors (Computers, Biotechnology, Foreign Trade, Entertainment and Professional Services) all start from a base of a well educated population. The investments that the state has made in public and private universities has paid substantial dividends.

In the next couple I will discuss some research about productivity in universities that should give all of the boosters some concern and then look at some California numbers on how we compete compared to other states. Both of those issues should raise some concern for the long term health of the state.