Four Nigerian Universities Ranked Among the Top 1400 Universities in the World

Four Nigerian Universities are among the top 1,400 universities ranked in the world. In the 2020 global ranking of top 1,400 Universities in the world released by Times Higher Education, Covenant University, University of Ibadan, University of Lagos and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, were ranked alongside 29 other African Universities on the list.

Covenant University is rated as the highest ranked Nigerian University placing in the 401-500 band. The University of Ibadan comes in second placing in the 500-600 band; the University of Lagos came in the 801-1000 band while the University of Nigeria, Nsukka is fourth and is ranked in the 1000+ band.

The four Nigerian Universities are among thirty three African universities in seven African countries in the global ranking. South African University of Witwatersrand is the highest ranked African University at number 194. In all South Africa has five Universities on the List, Egypt has the highest number of ten Universities, Morocco has six, Algeria has four, Tunisia has three while Kenya has one.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 includes almost 1,400 universities across 92 countries, standing as the largest and most diverse university rankings ever to date.

The ranking is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is the only university ranking to be independently audited by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments and industry experts. This year’s ranking provides great insight into the shifting balance of power in global higher education.

For the fourth year in a row, the University of Oxford, England, leads the rankings in first place, while the University of Cambridge falls to third. The California Institute of Technology rose three places to second, while Stanford, Yale, Harvard and Imperial College, London, all appear in the top ten.

Mainland China now provides both of Asia’s top two universities, with Tsinghua and Peking universities finishing at 23rd and 24th place respectively. The country’s universities have continued to expand their influence and presence on the world stage.

The US is, once again, extremely well-represented among the global elite, while Canada’s top universities have risen up the rankings.

In Europe, Italy’s top institutions all make headway among the elite top 200 and German representation remains strong. However, the UK faces declines.

Elsewhere, Iran has 11 more ranked universities to take its representation up to 40 institutions, while Latin America struggles in a competitive global market – although Brazil adds several more institutions to the list.

Several new regions join the rankings this year as Brunei, Cuba, Malta, Montenegro, Puerto Rico and Vietnam all see institutions represented for the first time. Bangladesh also re-joins the table

In all South Africa has a total of five universities in the ranking including the University of Witwatersrand at number 194, North-West University (501-600 band), University of Johannesburg (601-800 band), University of Western Cape (601-800 band) and the University of South Africa (1000+ band).

Egypt has a total of ten Universities namely Mansoura University (401-500 band), Beni-Suef University (601-800 band), Cairo University (601-800 band), American University in Cairo  (801-1000 band), Helwan University (1000+ band), Menoufia University (1000+ band), Minia University (1000+ band), Sohag University (1000+ band), Zagazig Umar University (1000+ band), and the South Valley University (1000+ band).

Algeria has a total of six Universities in the top 1,400 global Universities and they are the University of Biskra (1000+ band), University of Constantine 1 (1000+ band), Mohamed Bougara University (1000+ band), University of Science and Technology Houari Boumedine (1000+ band), University of Science and Technology Oran Mohamed-Doudiaf (1000+ band) and the University of Tlemcen (1000+ band)

Morocco has four Universities in the top 1,400 global Universities and they are Universite Hassan 11 De Casablanca (1000+ band), Ibn Tofail University (1000+ band), University of Marakech Cadi Ayyad (1000+ band), and Mohammed V University of Rabat (1000+ band)

Tunisia has three Universities in the top 1,400 global Universities and they are University of Monastir, University of Sfax and the University of Tunis El Manar all in the 1000+ band.

Kenya has one university ranked among the top 1,400 Universities in the world namely, the University of Nairobi which is ranked in the 800-1000 band.

The World University Rankings brings together five key elements / performance indicators of leading research-focused universities from around the world grouped into: Teaching (the learning environment); Research (volume, income and reputation); Citations (research influence); International outlook (staff, students and research); and Industry Income (knowledge transfer).

There are three key criteria that institutions must meet to be included in the ranking:

• Publish a sufficient number of academic papers over a five-year period – this threshold is currently set at 1,000 papers
• Teach undergraduates
• Work across a range of subjects

Read the full analysis of the THE World University Rankings 2020 results

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