THE Young University Rankings 2020: branching out

Browse the THE Young University Rankings 2020 results

The below scatter diagram shows the different patterns of university expansion in various regions of the world.

Each dot represents an institution in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings, positioned according to its age and overall score in the table and coloured according to its location.

It reveals that while there has been steady growth in new higher education institutions in Asia over the past 50 years, Europe had very distinct bursts of university openings in the early 1970s, early 1990s and again in the 2010s, reflecting changes in government policies. Africa’s surge, meanwhile, came in the mid-2000s.

The graph also reveals the differing performance of the regions’ young institutions. New universities in Oceania consistently achieve relatively high scores in the THE Young University Rankings, while those in Asia and Europe are spread throughout the ranking. However, these latter two regions are also home to the highest-ranking institutions in the table. Universities in Africa and South America generally rank towards the bottom of the table.

Elsewhere, North America has very few representatives in the ranking compared with other regions, in contrast to the THE World University Rankings.

Scores of universities by age and region

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com