Skip to main content

UW–Madison performs well in recent rankings

November 2, 2021 By Käri Knutson

The University of Wisconsin–Madison has ranked 35th overall in the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings. Photo: Bryce Richter

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is again being recognized as one of the world’s top learning institutions this year, placing 35th in the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings.

The annual list, compiled from a globally representative survey of senior, published scholars, highlights the Top 200 most powerful global university brands. The invitation-only opinion survey asked respondents to name no more than 15 universities that they believed were the best for research and teaching in their field.

Conducted between November 2020 and February 2021, nearly 11,000 responses were received from 128 countries.

See the complete list here.

In addition, U.S. News & World Report ranked UW–Madison 52nd in its 2022 Best Global Universities Rankings.

The overall Best Global Universities ranking encompasses 1,750 top institutions, up from nearly 1,500 last year, and include more than 90 countries, up from 86 last year.

Criteria used include publications, books, total citations, frequently cited publications, global and regional research reputation, conferences and international collaboration.

UW–Madison placed highly in several categories, including 17th in regional research reputation, 32nd in global research reputation, 41st in books, 44th in publications, 45th in number of publications that are among the 10 percent most cited, and 49th among total citations.

The global rankings, now in their eighth year, provide insight into how universities compare globally, according to U.S. News & World Report. Since an increasing number of students plan to enroll in universities outside of their own country, the focus of the rankings is on schools’ academic research and reputation overall, not on their separate undergraduate or graduate programs, and can help those applicants accurately compare institutions around the world.

In a separate ranking issued in September, UW–Madison placed 42nd overall and 14th among public institutions in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 rankings of best colleges.

For that ranking, U.S. News uses data from and about each school regarding undergraduate academic reputation, student excellence, faculty resources, expert opinion, financial resources, alumni giving, graduation and retention rates, graduate rate performances, and social mobility.

Read about other recent rankings here.

Tags: rankings