LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Top 200 ranking published today in Times Higher Education. The complete rankings will appear at 00:01 GMT on 9^th October at www.topuniversities.com

Now in their 6^th edition, the THE – QS World University Rankings received a record level of responses from both the academic community (9,386) and employers (3,281) reflecting the growing importance of the rankings. The results suggest that the dominance of traditionally elite universities is being challenged.

US and UK institutions still dominate the top ten:

• Harvard retains top spot.
• Cambridge moves to 2^nd ahead of Yale.
• University College London rises to 4^th ahead of Oxford (5^th equal with Imperial College)
• Princeton returns to the top ten.

Other insights among the top 100 universities:

• A dramatic fall in the number of North American universities in the top 100, (42 in 2008; 36 in 2009) reflects the growing presence of Asian and European Institutions on the world stage.
• 39 European universities appear in the top 100 (36 in 2008).
• Two more Asian universities rank in the top 100 – 16 institutions in total.
• The top specialist engineering university is École normale supérieure - Paris
• The top specialist social science university is London School of Economics

Nunzio Quacquarelli, Managing Director of QS observes: “Governments and universities are investing to increase their profile and recognition on the international stage as higher education becomes a global industry. Today the THE –QS World University Rankings are used by employers identifying from where to recruit, academics choosing where to work and with whom to form partnerships, and by parents and students looking to make a sound education decision.”

Source: QS Intelligence Unit (www.topuniversities.com)

© 2009 QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd.

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