2 Iowa Schools Rank Among World's Best Universities (Spoiler, It's U of I And ISU)

DES MOINES, IA — U.S. News & World Report released a new set of rankings today that designate the best global universities and the United States leads the way, claiming the top four spots on the list. Among the universities ranked as the best global universities by U.S. News, two Iowa schools made the list — both in the top 20 percent worldwide.

The rankings evaluated 1,250 universities across 74 countries and 221 American universities made the cut. To come up with the rankings, U.S. News first created a pool of universities using various sources, including a global reputation survey. The rankings were then calculated using 13 indicators and weights that U.S. News chose to measure global research performance. (You can see the full methodology here.)

The University of Iowa was tied in 153rd place with a global score of 61.4. It scored its highest in regional research reputation with a position ranking of 56th and its lowest (812th) being percentage of total publications with international collaboration. Among specific subjects, UI had its highest position (68th) in psychiatry and psychology and its lowest (534th) in chemistry. Among 15 subjects, all but three were ranked in the top 200.

Iowa State ranked 204th overall with a 57.6 global score. Its highest and lowest scores came in the same categories as the University of Iowa: a high of 68th in regional research reputation and a low of 636th in the percentage of total publications with international collaboration. In 11 subjects looked at for the university, it achieved two high scores: 28th in plant and animal science and 34th in agricultural sciences. Its lowest score was 259th in the social sciences and public health category.

(For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Des Moines Patch, or click here to find your local Iowa Patch. Also, find us on Facebook and, if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

According to U.S. News, the top 10 universities in the world are:

1. Harvard University
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Stanford University
4. University of California Berkeley
5. University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
6. California Institute of Technology
7. University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
8. Columbia University
9. Princeton University
10. (tie) Johns Hopkins University, University of Washington Seattle, Yale University

Image via Pixabay