The Ranking compiled by the global network of universities Universitas 21 compares the national higher education systems of various countries as a whole rather than individual universities. In this year’s comparison, the Swiss system came out number two in the world. Only the USA ranked higher. Switzerland was followed by the UK, Sweden and Denmark.
Swiss higher education system is top for connectivity
The higher education systems are rated based on four main criteria. Switzerland is the highest ranked country worldwide in the two categories of Resources and Connectivity. Resources encompasses government and private sector expenditure on tertiary institutions and on research as a share of GDP. Connectivity assesses the extent to which higher education institutions are linked internationally. This includes the proportion of international students and of articles co-authored with international collaborators. It also looks at how well the institutions are connected with the rest of the nation’s society. Switzerland scored particularly well for its established transfer of knowledge between companies and universities.
Top universities strengthen education system
In the Output category, Switzerland is third worldwide. This covers the number of research documents produced and their impact, the excellence of a nation’s best universities and the percentage of the population with a tertiary qualification. Switzerland impresses with its outstanding institutions, such as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zürich) and its equivalent in Lausanne (EPFL), which are regularly ranked top internationally.
In the fourth main category of Environment, Switzerland is number 12. This examines the environment under which tertiary institutions operate, including the proportion of female students, for example.
The comparison of national higher education systems is prepared on behalf of Universitas 21 by the University of Melbourne each year. Switzerland’s system was also awarded the silver medal last year.
