Page 75 - Crisis in Higher Education

Underlying Problems • 49

they cannot find good jobs or work two or three part-time jobs to make
5,6
ends meet. Quality, access, graduation rate, completion time, and job
placement are discussed in the following sections.

3.1 QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION

U.S. higher education is generally regarded as the best in the world, but
other universities are gaining ground. The World University Ranking for
2015–2016 uses international performance measures to assess universi-
ties on teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.
The methodology employs 13 performance indicators that provide a com-
prehensive evaluation. The ranking includes performance indicators that
are relevant for students and their families such as student–faculty ratios,
resources, links to business, and global reputation. The United States
has 6 of the top 10 universities, 17 of the top 25, and 63 of the top 200,
which shows the dominance of its top universities. But the United States
is losing ground, as institutions in Europe improve their performance,
including those in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and
Switzerland. The United States and United Kingdom have dominated the
top spots, but things are changing as Singapore’s National University is in
26th place, and China has 2 universities in the top 50. 1

3.1.1 System-Wide Quality
Universitas 21 has the only ranking of national higher education sys-
tems. It began in 2012 as an effort to meet a long-standing need to shift
the discussion from the best universities to the best overall higher educa-
tion system so governments have a tool to benchmark their country’s per-
formance. The study examines 50 countries, using four overarching areas
(resources, environment, connectivity, and output) as well as 25 specific
measurements across these areas. The United States is ranked first overall.
7
Following is a brief explanation for each area and the U.S. ranking.

1. Resources: This is 20% of the evaluation, and it is measured by vari-
ous types of expenditures for education as a percent of gross domestic
product (GDP), which normalizes to some degree for country size and
wealth. The United States ranks third behind Denmark and Singapore.