University Rankings
Global university rankings(排名)are a competitive business, and governments are taking action.
The first international ranking, the Academic Ranking of World Universities or Shanghai Rankings, were published in 2003 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. These were, at the beginning, used to establish the standing of Chinese universities internationally following the government's into the world - class universities.
But today, governments across the world are using rankings to judge their global competitiveness. The Shanghai Rankings were soon followed by the QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings. With students and teachers facing greater options and opportunities, the existence of three ready - made lists of the world's best universities has increased competition the world over and governments are now paying closer attention. University rankings are now part of policy - making.
Education has become a top concern in some developing countries and many of them are looking to form partnerships with world leading universities. The Brazilian government's national scholarship program, Science Without Borders, aims to send 100,000 students and researchers in primarily STEM subject areas to some of the world's best institutions. These partner universities were selected based on their position in the QS and Times rankings. In an effort to ensure quality, India's University Grants Commission also requires any foreign university wanting to partner with Indian universities to be ranked among the top 500 in the world.
University rankings are also influencing immigration(移民)policy. With the increasing number of internationally mobile students and rising incomes in developing countries, overseas students are big business. They contribute billions to the UK economy alone in 2011 - 2012. As a result, the UK government is looking to attract more overseas students by 2018.
Although university rankings have received some criticisms, it is widely agreed that they seem to be here to stay. In Asia and Latin America, companies have begun to produce regional rankings. And with former US president Barack Obama planning to create his own "Obamarank" league table(排名表)of US universities in an attempt to reduce the cost of college education, the global interest in ranking higher education only looks set to grow.
【问题】Governments are using university rankings ________.