Kent State Achieves Top 500 Ranking Among World Universities

Kent State University was recently ranked among the top 500 universities according to the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities. The annual ranking measures the performance of top universities worldwide based on a set of objective indicators and third-party data. More than 1,000 institutions of higher learning are ranked by Academic Ranking of World Universities every year and the best 500 are published. 

“This ranking, coupled with our recent ranking as one of the best national universities in U.S. News & World Report for the second consecutive year, illustrates the university’s excellent performance,” Kent State President Lester A. Lefton said. “It sheds a global spotlight on Kent State as a top worldwide university and what it has to offer.” 

Kent State is the only public university in Northeast Ohio to make the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities. Only two other public universities in Ohio, the Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati, joins Kent State on the list. While Kent State ranked in the 400-500 range globally, it was listed in the top 138-151 range among universities in the nation. 

The ranking is based on the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index – Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities was originally created by the Center of World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to gauge the effectiveness of universities in China but has now attracted hundreds of universities worldwide. Created in 2003, the Academic Ranking of World Universities has been recognized as the precursor of global university rankings and the most trustworthy list.

For more information about Kent State’s listing as a top university, visit www.shanghairanking.com.

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Photo Caption:
Kent State University was ranked among the top 500 universities according to the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities. Dr. Heather Caldwell, assistant professor of biological sciences at Kent State, conducts research in her lab in Cunningham Hall.

Media Contact:
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595