Harvard No Longer World’s Top University
Harvard University has lost its top spot in the ranking of world universities for the first time in eight years. It was knocked off its perch by Caltech (the California Institute of Technology). Another California college, Stanford University, tied with Harvard for second spot. The annual, global list of the planet’s top educational institutions is compiled by London’s Times Higher Education and the Thomson Reuters Corp. Universities from the U.S.A. and U.K. dominated the list, with 75 American schools in the top 200. Seven of the top 10 colleges were in the U.S. and the rest were in Britain. Oxford University climbed two places in the rankings to fourth; Princeton University came fifth and the University of Cambridge was sixth.Phil Baty, editor of the rankings, explained that Caltech leapfrogged Harvard because it had found greater funding for its research. He said: “The difference between Harvard and Caltech last year was minuscule. What’s happened this year is Caltech has seen a significant increase in its research income. A 16 percent increase. It’s quite significant in tipping the balance over in its favour.” Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, president of Caltech, said: “Caltech is fortunate to have steadfast donors and partners whose support gives [the university] the ability to invest in new ideas long before they would be eligible for public funding opportunities.” Baty said private universities in America like Caltech are becoming more successful in raising funds.
- TRUE / FALSE:
| a. | Harvard University has dropped out of the top ten universities. | T / F |
| b. | A technology college from California is now the world’s top uni. | T / F |
| c. | Stanford and Harvard universities share the same spot on the rankings. | T / F |
| d. | Cambridge and Oxford universities are both in the top five. | T / F |
| e. | Caltech got the top spot because if found more funds for research. | T / F |
| f. | There was a huge difference between Harvard and Caltech last year. | T / F |
| g. | Caltech can invest in new ideas before public universities can. | T / F |
| h. | Private universities in the U.S. are facing problems getting funding. | T / F |
- SYNONYM MATCH:Match the following synonyms from the article.
| 1. | spot | a. | lucky |
| 2 | tied | b. | the others |
| 3. | annual | c. | more |
| 4. | the rest | d. | drew |
| 5. | climbed | e. | jumped over |
| 6. | leapfrogged | f. | place |
| 7. | greater | g. | chances |
| 8. | fortunate | h. | money |
| 9. | opportunities | i. | yearly |
| 10. | funds | j. | rose |
Ask the students “what is the best thing to study at university?”Write the subjects/majors listed below on the whiteboard and get them to rank them on what they felt was best. Students can compare their rankings. They must give good reasons for their choices.
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