North American universities are feeling the pressure from emerging Asian academic powerhouses according to a new global ranking by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (WUR). Using a weighted set of criteria (see chart), the WUR shows that the number of qualifying US institutions placed in the top 200 dropped slightly from 77 to 74 between 2013-14 and 2014-15, while six of Canada's eight universities in the top 200 slipped in the ranking.

The exceptions are the Univ of Toronto — Canada's top-placed institution which held steady at #20 — and the Univ of Victoria which rose from the 201-225 level to #173, the only Canadian institution to improve its ranking. Of the six that saw their positions on the list decline, the Univ of Alberta suffered the biggest drop, slipping 15 spots from #109 to #124. Of the 10 Canadian universities that placed between #200 and #400, three advanced, two held steady and six saw their positions decline.

Beyond the #200 spot, the WUR does not assign institutions specific ranking, placing them within groups of 25.

The Times Higher Education ranking is one of several produced annually, but it is considered one of the most comprehensive.

The Univ of Toronto's ability to remain in the top 20 is based on its strong performance in research and citations (see below).

Rounding out the Canadian top 50 are the Univ of British Columbia (#32) and McGill Univ (#39).

As the sole Top 200 Canadian institution to improve its ranking, Univ of Victoria can point to significantly enhanced scores in the areas of citations and international outlook. VP research Dr David Castle credits the researchers the university has assembled.

"Some of our researchers in engineering and science have very high citation records and some are Canada's most highly cited according to recent ThomsonReuters data," says Castle. "It also tends to be the case that highly cited work is highly internationalized, so we do well in both categories."

Castle downplays the lower scores afforded the university's research and teaching performance, noting that many of the higher-ranked institutions are much older and larger than UVic and are the recipients of "enormous investments.

"It says more about the way the rankings aggregate information than it says about our established research excellence and consistently high student satisfaction ... It has to be taken somewhat lightly," he says. "The actual situation is much more complicated and nuanced than scores reflect."

Growing competition

The highest ranked Asian university is the Univ of Tokyo, which held firm at #23 after rising four spots from the 2012-13 ranking. Just behind is the National Univ of Singapore, which weighed in at #25. They are among the 24 Asian institutions that placed within the top 200, up from 20 the year before.

Hong Kong-based universities provide China with strong representation, with The Univ of Hong Kong ranked #43 while the Hong Kong Univ of Science and Technology ranked #51. From the Chinese mainland, Peking Univ and Tsinghua Univ occupied the #48 and #49 spots.

Curiously, the top university in Germany — an innovation powerhouse — is Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, which placed #55 — one of 10 German institutions to place within the top 200.

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