What university rankings tell about a school's performance

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A new international testing system called Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) has recently been proposed to gauge the learning habits that college students acquire from their respective schools. Standard academic measurements, such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), were generally used for high school students to determine their dexterity in specific subject areas. Giving university students a similar exam to test their mathematics, science, and reading comprehension skills has polarized analysts, critics, professors, and students. The system might be considered a good thing by some, but it can also be seen by others as unnecessary.

Universities are often ranked in terms of their research excellence or influence, publications, success demographics, number of programs offered, size of the faculty staff, and the number of prestigious awards they have achieved. However, placing well above the charts does not necessarily make a top-ranked institution better than its rivals. Rankings tend to value reputation over the actual quality of teaching, which can be considered unfair in some perspectives.


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It would be difficult to measure the academic aptitude of students, especially since universities offer a myriad of programs and a wide range of teaching systems. But if the new testing system proves to be an efficient measure, world university rankings could change dramatically.

Those who are against the new system, however, argue that it will only serve to criticize faculty members at hard-pressed universities. They also point out that a very expensive multilingual, multinational exam that tries to test immeasurable criteria is simply impractical.

Universities around the world differ in many aspects, such as their approaches to the curricula and arrangements for access to higher education. Whatever rankings global organizations make to measure university performance, the fact would still remain that high-quality education lies in the hands of a well-founded system of instruction.


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Psychologist Yul Whitney supports a range of causes that cater to the needs of students and teachers. Read updates on this Facebook page to learn more about him and his education advocacy.