The international higher education ranking Universitas 21 compares the overall higher education systems of various countries instead of assessing individual universities. This year, the Swiss higher education system was ranked as number two in the world in the comparison. Only the USA scored higher, with Denmark, Singapore, and Sweden following behind.
Swiss universities have the best connections
The higher education systems are assessed according to four categories: connectivity, output, resources, and environment. Switzerland came in first place globally for connectivity, which investigates the extent to which the higher education institutes have an international focus. For example, the proportion of international students or the proportion of research projects with international researchers are assessed. However, integration into society is also examined.
Good funding and high quality
Switzerland came in third place worldwide in the category of output. This measures the number of publications and their consideration, the number of top international universities in the country, and also the proportion of students or academics in the population, for example.
Switzerland also came in third on a global level for the category of resources. This takes into account both public and private funding for higher education institutions.
The category of environment considers the autonomy and diversity of the institutions, among other things. Switzerland placed at number twelve for this.
Graduates impress with their entrepreneurial skills
This year, a separate study was conducted on the graduates of the individual countries. This took into consideration their entrepreneurial skills as well as general knowledge. Swiss graduates were the best in the world in terms of their entrepreneurial skills.
The comparison of countries’ higher education systems is conducted by the University of Melbourne on behalf of Universitas 21. The Swiss higher education system has also been able to achieve a silver medal over the past two years as well.
