University of Washington Ranked #15 in the World

For the second year in a row, the University of Washington (UW) ranked number 15 in the world on the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities. The ranking, conducted by researchers at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, considered more than 1,200 universities worldwide.

Among U.S. universities, UW came in 13th, and it ranked fourth among public institutions. This year, UW also moved up in its worldwide ranking for business and economics, moving to number 24 from number 33. It’s an impressive feat considering the methodology. Researchers considered four different factors when ranking each university:

1. Quality of Education (10 percent): Determined by the number of alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals
2. Quality of Faculty (40 percent): Determined by the number of staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (20 percent) and the number of highly cited researchers in 21 subject categories (20 percent)
3. Research Output (40 percent): Determined by the number of papers publish in Nature and Science (20 percent) and the number of papers indexed in the Science Citation Index and the Social Science Citation Index (20 percent)
4. Per Capita Performance (10 percent): Determined by the per capital performance of an institution

In a press release from the university UW President Ana Mari Cauce talked about the ranking.

“A university is defined in many ways by its faculty,” she said. “This ranking in particular strives to measure the quality of the faculty at the world’s great universities. It is very gratifying to see others acknowledging the excellence of our faculty, who truly are among the best in the world. Their quality drives everything we do.”

The UW climbed from the number 16 spot in 2014 and has stayed at the 15th place ever since. In fact, since the inaugural year of the ranking in 2003, UW has always been in the world’s top 20. Where the University of Washington truly shines is in its percentage of papers published in top journals: the school rated 93.3 out of 100.