A look at the top 10 global universities to study in and the Indian universities that found mention.
QS World University Rankings has declared the rankings of the top universities around the globe to study in for 2010.
Begun in 2004, the rankings rate universities based on academic peer reviews, employer-recruiter reviews, student faculty-ratio, citations per faculty and international factors (faculty and students).
Also taken into account are size, subject range and research intensity of each university in an attempt to compare diverse universities on certain common factors.
This year’s survey featured over 2,500 institutions, with 660 being evaluated. Here we take a look at the top 10 institutions for higher studies, followed by the Indian institutions that made the list.
The University of Cambridge piped Harvard to take top spot as the best university this year.
Ranked at No 2 last year, it is the seventh oldest university in the world. It has 31 colleges associated with it, 100 departments, faculties and syndicates and six schools (arts and humanities, biological studies, clinical medicine, humanities and social studies, physical sciences and technology).
At present there are over 17,000 students enrolled at the university, of which over 1,000 are international students from over 120 different countries.
Harvard (also ranked as the top university in the US) dropped a spot to No 2 this year after being ranked No 1 for four consecutive years.
Located in Massachusetts, the university has over 2,100 faculty members and a student intake of about 21,000 each year for its degree programs.
The university also has over 7,000 international students and scholars currently enrolled in its many study programs.
Yale stays put at No 3 for the second consecutive year.
It offers over 2,000 undergraduate courses in the liberal arts and sciences and has over 65 departments and programs.
The university has over 3,600 faculties and over 11,000 students enrolled, of which over 1,872 are international students.
Also staying put at no 4 is UCL, located in the heart of London.
A multidisciplinary university, it offers offer 200 degrees in the sciences, arts, social sciences and biomedicine.
It has over 4,000 faculty and student strength of over 22,000, of which about 34 per cent are international students.
MIT moved up 4 spots to land at No 5 this year.
The institute has 34 academic departments, divisions and degree-granting programs and over 1,025 faculty members.
The student enrollments were over 10,000 in 2009-10 and it also has over 2,700 international students currently enrolled.
Dropping a spot from last year to No 6 is Oxford.
It has 39 colleges associated with it offering a slew of undergrad and post grad courses.
With a student population of over 18,000, almost a quarter is international enrollments.
ICL also dropped 2 spots this year to land at No 7.
The university offers courses in science, engineering, medicine and business supported by over 3,000 teaching and research staff.
Imperial has over 13,000 students enrolled of which a substantial percentage accounts for international enrollments.
Slipping a spot to No 8 this year is the University of Chicago.
It has four graduate divisions and six professional schools supported by 2,211 faculties.
There are over 15,000 students currently enrolled with about 18 per cent being international students.
CalTech moved up one spot from last year to come in at No 9.
The institute enrolls over 2,100 students every year and employs about 300 professorial faculty for its seven academic divisions that include biology, chemistry, engineering, geological sciences and social science.
And rounding off the top 10 is Princeton, slipping 2 spots from last year.
The fourth oldest college in the US, it has over 1,100 faculty members, 34 departments apart from its School of Architecture, School of Engineering and Applied Science and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
The university has student strength of over 7,500, from over 98 countries.
The top Indian institute to figure in the rankings was IIT Bombay, at No 187.
Ranked last year at No 163, IITB offers two undergrad programs (BTech and dual degree), seven post-grad programs (including MTech, MPhil and diploma programs) and a PhD course as well, with an annual enrollment of 1,200 students.
IITD came in next, slipping 21 notches to No 202.
The institute has close to 5,000 students enrolled in its UG and PG courses, supported by 13 departments and 11 centers of learning and research.
Ranked as India’s top engineering college (in the 14th India Today annual survey) IITK, dropped 12 places to No 249.
The institute offers nine specializations in engineering studies and currently it has 3,700 students enrolled in its undergraduate and postgraduate programs, with over 300 faculty.
The first to move up the rankings is IITM climbing 22 places to No 262.
Offering 16 academic departments, the institute has over 4,500 students enrolled in its BTech, MS, MTech and PhD programs.
IITKgp also rose in the rankings, taking No 311 from last year’s 335.
The oldest of the IITs, it has over 2,700 students on campus supported by 450 faculties.
Delhi University fell a whopping 80 spots to land at 371 this year.
One of India’s largest learning institutions, it offers 16 faculties, 86 departments and 77 colleges with around 150,000 regular students and more than 250,000 students in the distance learning stream.
IITR climbed a commendable 50 slots to No 401 this year.
Currently it has over 4,000 students enrolled in its various courses under 18 academic departments offering over 66 disciplines in engineering and technical courses.
The University of Mumbai stayed put at last year’s rank of 451.
It has two postgraduate centers, 354 affiliated colleges and 36 departments with full-time, part-time and distance education programs.
IITG also dropped drastically down to rankings from 401 to 501.
The institute offers courses in 65 engineering and science divisions supported by 11 departments for its BTech, BDes, MTech, MSc and PhD programs.
Tied at 501 is the University of Calcutta.
It has 18 research centers, 8 faculties and 153 affiliated colleges. It currently has 12,400 postgraduate students enrolled.
And finally we have Pune University rounding off the list of Indian institutes, which also managed to retain it rank from last year.
The university has 46 academic departments, 118 recognized research institutes and 269 affiliated colleges with over 3,600 post-grad students enrolled.
