The North-West University (NWU) continues its excellent performance in global rankings. In the latest rankings, the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) placed the NWU in the top 4,7% of universities in their 2021/2022 edition of the Global 2000 list.
This considerable achievement was published on 26 April on the cwur.org website. The NWU was ranked according to academic performance among 19 788 universities worldwide.
The NWU excelled with an overall score of 70,7. It was ranked 924th in the world, ninth in Africa and seventh in South Africa. In terms of research performance, the CWUR ranked the NWU 879th among the world’s participating universities.
Prof Dan Kgwadi, vice-chancellor and principal of the NWU, says the NWU regularly excels in global rankings. The latest CWUR ranking follows a top-100 placing ― and overall sixth place in South Africa ― in the Emerging Economies University Ranking of Times Higher Education (THE), which was announced in March this year. The Times Higher Education Ranking placed the NWU in the overall 97th place out of 606 universities participating in their ranking.
“Although ranking is not a goal the NWU pursues, it is recognition for the excellent work that all members of the NWU family are doing. The NWU’s spirit and resilience have again shown that with hard work and dedication, we can weather the storms in tumultuous times. Covid-19 has emphasised the importance of knowledge sharing and international cooperation. This international recognition serves as an enabler for fostering partnerships and international collaboration.”
He says the management of the NWU is extremely proud of all staff, students and other role players who are playing their part in making the NWU shine internationally.
Largest academic rankings of global universities
The CWUR publishes the largest academic rankings of global universities. It is a consulting organisation that provides policy advice, strategic insights and consulting services to governments and universities in order to improve educational and research outcomes.
The CWUR rankings are unique in that the organisation places equal emphasis on the learning environment and research.
It also uses objective indicators for all four key pillars underlying the methodology of the ranking, with no reliance on surveys and data submissions. The four key pillars are the quality of education, alumni employment, quality of faculty, and research performance.
Seven indicators determine ranking
The CWUR uses seven objectives and robust indicators grouped into four areas to rank the world’s universities.
The first of these indicators concerns the quality of education, which is measured by the number of a university's alumni who have won major academic distinctions relative to the university's size (25%).
Alumni employment is another indicator. This is measured by the number of a university's alumni who have held top executive positions at the world's largest companies relative to the university's size (25%).
Thirdly, the CWUR considers the quality of faculty. This is measured by the number of faculty members who have won major academic distinctions (10%).
The fourth indicator is research performance, which is measured in four areas: research output (10%), high-quality publications (10%), influence in terms of the number of research articles in highly influential journals (10%), and citations (10%).
For more information on the rankings, visit http://cwur.org/2021-22.php.
