The North-West University (NWU) has always prided itself on its performance in international and national rankings. These rankings are good benchmarks for comparing the quality of education at the university with that of other universities, locally and abroad.
The newest ranking results by Times Higher Education World University Rankings are proof that the NWU does not disappoint when it comes to quality education.
The ranking company placed the NWU in the 401+ group out of 536 international universities for the arts and humanities subject rankings. The ranking, which was published earlier this month, highlights the universities that are leading across art, performing arts, design, languages, linguistics, literature, history, philosophy, theology, architecture and archaeology subjects.
It is a significant achievement taking into account that the NWU is being measured against acclaimed international universities such as Stanford University and the University of Cambridge, among other institutions.
Later this year, Times Higher Education will publish the subject rankings for other subject groups, including engineering and technology, social sciences, business and economics, education, law and life sciences, among other subjects.
For its rankings, the company uses 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
The rankings are independently audited by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The NWU has done consistently well in the rankings. Overall, the university is in the fifth position in South Africa. Globally, the NWU is ranked between number 501 and 600 out of the 1 396 participating universities.
The NWU also boasts several academic programmes in the top 500, top 400 and top 100 in the world, according to the global Academic Ranking of World Universities. This particular ranking system is made up of 1 600 universities across 83 countries. The NWU’s top programmes are geography, psychology, environmental sciences, mathematics, political science, education, engineering, tourism and accounting.
The US News and World Reports’ 2020 Best Global Universities rankings placed the NWU among the top seven universities in South Africa. The NWU rose from the 708th global placing last year to 645th.
This is a remarkable achievement, as this specific ranking includes the top 1 500 institutions from 81 countries.
Prof Linda du Plessis, deputy vice-chancellor for planning and Vanderbijlpark Campus Operations, says the NWU has a strong commitment towards social justice. “The fact that our performance is internationally recognised is a positive sign of the relevance as well as the high standard of the academic performance, while preparing students for a global future.”
Prof Dan Kgwadi, vice-chancellor, says it is through achievements such as these that the NWU solidifies its place among the leading institutions of higher learning.
For more information visit https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2020/subject-ranking/arts-and-humanities
