Difficulties and Possibilities of University Rankings in Hungary Magdolna Orosz (Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Hungary) Academic cooperation and competitiveness. University ranking methodologies Babes-Bolyai University, 17 – 20 September 2009

Importance of University Rankings growing importance of rankings: –restructuring of university education in Europe / worldwide (Bologna Process) –increasing the relevance of high quality degrees on the job market –funding of higher education and its institutions –strategy/policy for universities

Changes and Challenges before 1950: –publicly subsidized higher education system limited to a small fraction of the population in the past few decades : –transformation of that elite model into a mass higher education system, with enrollment levels often exceeding 50 percent cf. Ben W. Ansell (2008: 189)

Changes and Challenges Higher education policy in the OECD: trilemma among: –the level of enrollment, –the degree of subsidization, –the overall public cost of higher education choice among: –mass enrollment –full subsidization –relatively low public total cost

Changes and Challenges 3 models: –the partially private model: mass, partially private, inexpensive higher education system –the mass public model: mass, fully public, expensive higher education system –the elite model: inexpensive, publicly funded, elite higher education system (cf. Ansell 2008: 190)

Dilemmas for Hungary Hungary before 1990: –Elite model (without subsidizing high[er] quality) –restricted access to higher education: some aspects of quality excellence combined with political and social factors/considerations Hungary after 1990: –moving towards the mass (dominantly public [subsidized]) model –70 HEIs in Hungary –2009: 400,000 students enrolled in HEIs –since 2006: Bologna system BA + MA + PhD –2009: starting MA-level courses

Dilemmas for Hungary/HEIs Conflicting exigences and expectations: –quality vs. quantity –elite vs. mass education –academic vs. professional education –BA/BSc vs. MA/MSc + PhD –research university vs. “mass” university –competitive (research) funding vs. (full) public funding –globalisation vs. localisation/regionalisation –“globalized” disciplines (Sciences) vs. “localized” disciplines (Social Sciences/Humanities)

Rankings importance of rankings: –for the HEIs – for the students – for higher education policy makers – for the job market –mutual relations between these stakeholders on the basis of different/divergent aspects –research excellence –educational excellence –users’ judgments variable combinations of ranking aspects

International Rankings ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities) – Shanghai Ranking (since 2004) Ranking criteria: –Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (10%); –Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (20%); –Highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories (20%); Articles published in Nature and Science (20%); –Articles indexed in Science Citation Index-expanded, and Social Citation Index (20%); –per capita academic performance of an institution (10%); –2008: ELTE – (+ University of Szeged) Main features: ranking of research performance, no ranking of education, no evaluation of institutional infrastructure/users’ assessment

International Rankings The Times Higher Education Ranking – THE-QS World University Rankings 6 distinct indicators: –Academic Peer Review (in 5 subject areas) (40%); Employer Review (10%); Faculty Student Ratio (20%); Citations per Faculty (20%); International Faculty (5%), International Students (5%) –Ranking 2008: ELTE: (in the Ranking of European Universities: 195) Main features: mixed criteria (research excellence – educational excellence + internalization)

International Rankings Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers of World Universities – by Higher Education Evaluation and the Accreditation Council of Taiwan (since 2007) bibliometric methods – indicators: –1) research productivity: number of articles; –2) research impact: number of citations; –3) research excellence: H-index, Highly Cited Papers, articles in high-impact journals Hungary: Semmelweis University 415 (worldwide)/185 (Europe), ELTE: 463/204 Main feature: ranking only by research excellence criteria

International Rankings Webometrics Ranking of World Universities: global performance and visibility web presence reflecting the activities of universities Indicators: size; visibility; rich files; Scholar Web performance = / ≠ academic excellence → consequences for university policy Top 500: Technical Univ. Budapest = 276, ELTE = 296

International Rankings LERU (League of European Research Universities): 20 members invitation: quantitative and qualitative analysis in a two-stage process: –1) basic data (number of faculties, faculty staff, students, PhD degrees; scientific publications; science and technology indicatiors; competitively funded research (international + national level); academy membership; national and international awards –2) size of faculties; postgraduate (PhD) training; total competitive research funding from external resources (in relation to faculty size); postdoctoral programs; undergraduate programs Main features: mixed criteria

European Rankings Centre for Higher Education Development : –user-centered, multidimensional, considering trends, grouping approach CHERPA-Network (Consortium for Higher Education and Research Performance Assessment) purposes: –alternative design for a global ranking of universities –to measure higher education’s core functions of research, teaching and outreach –to provide a valid, fair comparison of institutions

Rankings in Hungary OFIK (National Higher Education Information Centre) –multiple criteria, on the basis of information from HEIs, students’ assessments, faculty evaluation, fields of study considered – basis for other rankings HVG (weekly economic journal): –2 main criteria: student excellence, academic staff excellence + students’ questionnaires, job market evaluations Népszabadság Top 40 (national broadsheet): –on the basis of HEIs information, mixed criteria (education, staff and research excellence, infrastructure, internationalization Hungarian Top 10 universities: mostly large (comprehensive) universities with long educational and research traditions

Rankings and Higher Education Policy usefulness of rankings (cf. the dilemmas) –for higher education government: excellence vs. mass higher education – or perhaps their combination? –for HEIs: information about strengths and weaknesses, about (international) trends – one of the ”tools” for defining university policy, strategic decisions for becoming/staying excellent –for students’ side: influencing decisions –for the job market: information about the potential value of degrees, trends – possibility/ need for feedback to HEIs rankings: –no exclusive tool, in combination with others –need refining with respect to institutional, national and regional tendencies

Rankings – A Comparison for Reconsidering Dilemmas INDICATOREU TOP10 USA TOP10 (PUB) USA TOP10 (PRIV) ELTE Number of students 12,500 – 42,50024,000 – 50,9002,000 – 24,00030,000 International students0 – 20 %4 – 9 %13 – 26 %3% Students/prof.s7.5 – – – Academic/Non- academic staff0.5 – 2.3/10.1 – 0.7/10.2 – 0.4/11/1 Income0.5 – 0.8 bUSD0.4 – 2.2 bUSD0.9 – 2.6 bUSD 15.8 mUSD Exp./Student 16,000 – 64,000 USD 21,000 – 51,000 USD 82,000 – 174,000 USD 5,300 USD Medicine9 YES7 YES NONE

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