The banner headline is that the University of Oxford has become the first UK university to top the Times Higher Education World University rankings (in 2016-17) when it was released last year. But the subplot, and which was reinforced in a recent release, is that more Asian universities are now edging to the top 100 of the list and are poised to enter the top 20.
The University of Oxford has knocked five-time leader California Institute of Technology, also known as Caltech, into second place in the Times’ rankings. [1] Of the top 200 universities, 63 are from the US while 32 are from the UK — two shy of last year’s number. Germany is once again the third most represented country in the top 200, with 22 institutions (up from 20), while the Netherlands is still fourth, with 13 (up from 12).
While these Western countries continue to dominate the list, Asia is becoming increasingly visible. There are now nine Asian universities in the top 100, up from eight last year, with several Asian institutions edging closer to the top 20.