China's reputation grows in world university rankings

China continues its climb up the global university reputation rankings with Tsinghua University leading the way, rising to 9th position from 10th last year, to be the highest-placed Asian institution, according to the latest Times Higher Education report.

In its World Reputation Rankings 2022, China has nine universities in the top 100, up from seven last year. Peking University moves up from 15th to 13th place. Shanghai Jiao Tong University leaps from joint 50th position to 28th, and Fudan University rises to 39th place.

China's steady progress in global recognition mirrors its robust rise in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer at the Times Higher Education, said: "In higher education, reputation really matters. It helps attract inward investment, it helps draw in quality partners for strategic advancement.

"And, perhaps above all else, it is key to attracting talent, among both academics and of course the many millions of prospective students who have more and more choice of where to study. It is subjective, and it is not always fair, but it has real currency with tangible effects."

At the top of the table, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology retain their respective number one and number two spots, with third-ranked Stanford University pushing the University of Oxford into 4th place.

The United States has one fewer university in the top 10 this year, but continues to dominate the top of the table, with six universities represented in the top 10, and with Harvard at number one for the 12th consecutive year. Across the rankings overall, the US experiences mixed results, but its top universities remain prestigious in the eyes of scholars worldwide.

In the United Kingdom, Imperial College London enters the top 20 in 14th place, up from 23rd, and University of Bristol enters the top 100 in the group band 81-90, having previously been in 101-125.

With regard to mainland Europe, Technical University of Munich is Germany's highest ranked institution, rising from 45th to 33rd place. France's Sorbonne University rejoins the top 50 in joint 50th position, and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, which was previously joint 50th, is now 43rd. Switzerland's ETH Zurich is just outside the top 10, rising from 18th to 12th.

Elsewhere in Asia, the University of Tokyo re-enters the top 10 in 10th place, after it dropped to 13th position last year, and National University of Singapore enters the top 20 in 19th place, up from 24th.

"While the top of the Reputation Rankings has been remarkably stable for many years – with a top six group of global 'super-brands' standing out above all others – it is fascinating to observe trends over time," said Baty. "We are seeing some real rising stars emerging from these rankings, whose standing in the global academic community has been steadily rising."

Mark Sudbury, head of the World 100 Reputation Network, a group of communications chiefs at leading universities around the world, said: "This year, the results have been eagerly watched as they represent the largest ever response to Times Higher Education's Academic Reputation Survey, with more than 29,000 published academic voters taking part – up from around 11,000 in 2021.

"With more than 420,204 votes cast in total, the rankings represent just the tip of a mountain of data that illuminates the way in which the academic community judges the reputation of global universities," he added.