THE Young University Rankings 2019: adjust your picture

Browse the THE Young University Rankings 2019 results

We all know what a world-class university looks like, right?

They are old, having had at least a couple of centuries on which to build a formidable reputation. They are rich, having accumulated property, wealth and generous philanthropic gifts from generations of alumni and admirers. They sit in the heart of great cities, woven into the infrastructure and the architecture.

Well, we are wrong, wrong and wrong again, according to the compelling evidence from the 2019 edition of the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings – featuring universities aged 50 years and under – and our related analyses of “Golden Age” institutions founded after 1945 and the post-2000 “millennials”.

Ranked in first place in the THE Young University Rankings is The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. HKUST was created from scratch in 1991, less than 30 years ago. That it was founded some eight decades after the University of Hong Kong did not stop HKUST overtaking its neighbour in the 2019 THE Asia University Rankings, or making it into the overall world top 50 against much older institutions in the 2019 THE World University Rankings.

As for affluence, consider the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which is ranked 12th in the world among the under-50s. Despite reporting total assets of $4.8 billion (£3.8 billion) for 2016-17 – some 10 times smaller than Stanford University’s equivalent figure – its relative lack of wealth has not stopped it making the global top 200 in the overall World University Rankings.

And where are great institutions found? Those we cover hail from a gloriously diverse range of places: from HKUST’s picturesque hillside site in Clear Water Bay, 30 minutes from Hong Kong’s centre, to Northumbria University, in the heart of Newcastle in the north east of the UK.

This analysis of young universities challenges our preconceptions of what a “great” university is. The data help us to understand those institutions that have broken traditional moulds and excelled despite a relative lack of wealth, heritage and reputation. The analysis also helps us to identify the next generation of rising star institutions poised to challenge the old guard.

THE is delighted to bring forward these insights to help us navigate the dynamic and changing world of global higher education. 

Phil Baty is chief knowledge officer at Times Higher Education.

Countries/regions represented in Young University Rankings