Harvard on top as U.S. universities dominate world reputation rankings

Seven out of the top ten positions in a ranking of global universities by Times Higher Education according to their reputation and perception internationally were bagged by universities in the U.S., showing their continued dominance in the global mindscape. Two of U.K.'s elite universities feature in the top-10 list with the only Asian representation coming from the University of Tokyo in Japan.

The reputation rankings, based on an invitation-only survey of more than 13,000 academics around the world, were conducted as a part of the Times Higher Education World University rankings for 2010-11 published last September, but it is only now that they have been revealed in isolation. It is asserted to be the only ranking based on the metric of reputation for excellence, in both teaching and research, among prominent experienced university academics around the world.

The Universities in the top 10 are:

1. Harvard University

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3. University of Cambridge

4. University of California, Berkeley

5. Stanford University

6. University of Oxford

7. Princeton University

8. University of Tokyo

9. Yale University

10. California Institute of Technology

The value of the reputation rankings, however, may be debated by critics as it becomes difficult to correlate with the standings of the universities in the overall ranking - many of the universities fare significantly better on the reputation list than in the World University Rankings. For example, the University of Tokyo which is eighth in terms of reputation was 37^th in the world university rankings. On the other hand Pennsylvania State University, which is among the top 20 in the university rankings only appears in the 61-70 bracket where reputation is concerned.

In addition, the results appear to be highly skewed with the top six demonstrating a significant lead in scores over those that follow. In that sense, the top six - Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the University of Cambridge; the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University and the University of Oxford - may be said to enjoy some sort of an elite global superbrand status.