Education has become increasingly important around the world, as globalization has allowed students from every type of nation to become educated in ways they could only dream of a few decades ago. As this has occurred, it becomes important to look at the best universities in the world, the majority of which are located in the “Western” nations, but this is beginning to shift as the world concepts of what constitutes Western shifts as well. Thus far, the top 20 universities in the world include schools in the United States, England, and Canada, but the 22nd university is the University of Tokyo in Japan, while the 24th is the University of Hong Kong in China.
Prospective students and government policy makers around the world rely on statistics from educators who determine what the best universities currently are. While the United States has begun to drag behind many European and Asian nations in their high school rankings, the nation still holds 27 percent of the 200 top universities, with the United Kingdom trailing slightly behind. Students and faculty from nations around the world are eager to receive lists of the best universities to determine which ones they should transfer to or attend, the result of which has been clearly noted throughout history.
Currently, the top 5 list is comprised of Harvard, Cambridge, Yale, University College London, and Imperial College London, nearly all of which were founded in the nineteenth century (Imperial College was founded in 1907, narrowly missing the nineteenth century mark). Education has rapidly expanded since the beginning of the twentieth century, and as online education continues to take off, more students from impoverished nations are now being offered the opportunity to study in nearly any degree program. Lists of the best universities in the world continue to be important for these students because they continue to give them hope for a future that does not involve remaining in poverty. Furthermore, online education has allowed many students in these nations to experience distance learning classes offered at many of the top universities around the world, some even free for users (although they do not involve college credit).
The best universities in the world are slowly changing to reveal more modern universities that have emerged in the past few decades, although the more prestigious Ivy League schools of the United States and Great Britain will continuously vie for the top positions.
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