On Tuesday, U.S. News & World Report released its sixth annual Best Global Universities ranking. American universities dominated the list, earning eight of the top 10 spots, but the ranking — which emphasizes academic research — also highlighted top-notch schools from around the world.
"Many prospective students are looking to other countries for their education," said Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News in a statement. "The Best Global Universities rankings give these students a starting point for their search. In addition to the rankings, students should also consider their fluency in the language of instruction, the fields of study that the school offers and the costs that come from studying in another country."
For their 2020 list, U.S. News evaluated 1,500 schools — an increase from the 1,250 schools evaluated last year — across 81 countries.
The ranking takes 13 different variables that measure academic research into consideration, including academic reputation, international collaboration, publications and citations. In order to gather information in these categories, U.S. News partnered with Clarivate Analytics to survey 26,810 professors, researchers, senior administrators, students and university employees from across the globe.
You can read more about U.S. News' methodology here.
Here are the 10 best global universities outside of the U.S., according to U.S. News:
10. University of British Columbia
Overall ranking: 30
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Total enrollment: 53,079
International students: 16,626
9. University of Edinburgh
Overall ranking: 28
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.
Total enrollment: 29,220
International students: 11,305
8. University of Sydney
Overall ranking: 27
Location: Sydney, Australia
Total enrollment: 46,145
International students: 19,770
7. University of Melbourne
Overall ranking: 26
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Total enrollment: ~50,000
International students: ~20,000
6. ETH Zurich
Overall ranking: 25
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Total enrollment: 18,452
International students: 7,288
5. University College London
Overall ranking: 21
Location: London, England, U.K.
Total enrollment: 42,100
International students: 20,208
4. Imperial College London
Overall ranking: 20
Location: London, England, U.K.
Total enrollment: 16,570
International students: 9,210
3. University of Toronto
2. University of Cambridge
Overall ranking: 9
Location: Cambridge, England, U.K.
Total enrollment: ~19,000
International students: ~3,000
1. University of Oxford
Overall ranking: 5
Location: Oxford, England, U.K.
Total enrollment: 24,299
International students: 6,772
The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom were the highest-ranked global universities located outside of the U.S.
Both schools have long histories of academic prestige. Oxford is believed to have been founded as early as 1096, and Cambridge is believed to have been founded in 1209. Several other British schools including Imperial College London and University College London received high marks from U.S. News.
Many of the high-ranking global universities on U.S. News' ranking enroll a high number of international students, such as the University of Melbourne. Roughly 40% of the Australian school's over 50,000 students are international.
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