Quacquarelli Symonds (
QS) is a company specializing in education and study abroad. The company was founded in 1990 by
Wharton School MBA graduate
Nunzio Quacquarelli. Today, QS has over 200 employees and operates globally from offices in London (head office in Hampstead, North London), New York, Paris, Singapore, Stuttgart, Boston, Washington DC, Sydney, Shanghai, Johannesburg and Alicante. QS provides services for
undergraduates,
graduates,
Masters,
PhDs,
MBA, and
EMBA candidates. It offers publications and events to broaden the scope of
study abroad. QS runs events and produces guides for postgraduates across 35 countries.
QS World University Rankings
QS launched the World University Rankings in 2004, in cooperation with the
Times Higher Education Supplement. QS and THE ceased their business relationship after the publication of the 2009 Rankings. QS assumed sole publication of the existing methodology when Times Higher Education split in order to create a new ranking methodology in 2010, which became the
Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
In 2010, the QS World University Rankings were published online and by media partners around the world, including ''US News and World Report''. The 2010 Rankings were also published in book form in early 2011. The book series – called Guide to the World’s Top Universities and Top Universities Guide - allows institution profiles, student guidance and other information to be published alongside the Rankings. From 2010, the Guide has been published in Chinese as well as in English.
The World University Rankings are controversial. Here are some comments and criticisms from experts and the media.
Comments
On Thursday 8 October 2009, Sean Flynn of the ''
Irish Times'' said: “With more than 2,000 colleges surveyed, the QS World University Rankings are regarded as the most reliable guide to university performance.”
“The ranking, a collaboration between the THE[S] and higher education consultants ''Quacquarelli Symonds'', is used around the world by consumers — parents and students — as well as academics looking for work and employers seeking recruits.” ''The Australian'', Australia, 2009
“The [THE] – QS table is the only international table that aspires to embrace the broader scope of a university’s mission rather than just its research quality or website effectiveness.”
''Malay Mail'', Malaysia 2009.
“This year's rankings attracted a record level of responses from the academic community and employers, with results suggesting that the dominance of the traditionally elite universities is increasingly being challenged.”
''The Evening Times'', UK, 2009
THE editor, Ann Mroz told ABS-CBN News on Tuesday 13 October 2008: "These rankings use an unprecedented amount of data to deliver the most accurate measure available of the world’s best universities, and of the strength of different nations’ university systems. They are important for governments wanting to gauge the progress of their education systems, and are used in planning by universities across the world."
However, commenting in 2009 on ''Times Higher Education''’s decision to split from QS, THE editor Ann Mroz said: “universities deserve a rigorous, robust and transparent set of rankings - a serious tool for the sector, not just an annual curiosity." She went on to explain the reason behind the decision to continue to produce rankings without QS’ involvement, saying that: "The responsibility weighs heavy on our shoulders...we feel we have a duty to improve how we compile them.”
Criticism
Writing in ''
The Australian'', reporter Luke Slattery said: "The other international bellwether of university performance, the ''
Shanghai Jiao Tong University'' world university ranking, will be released next month. The SHJT ranking focuses more on research in the sciences and is regarded by most experts as a more rigorous measure than the THES league table, if more mono-dimensional."
Quacquarelli Symonds has been faulted for some data collection errors. For instance between 2006 and 2007 Washington University in St. Louis fell from 48th to 161st because QS mistakenly replaced it with the University of Washington in Seattle. QS committed a similar error when collecting data for ''Fortune'' magazine, confusing the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler business school with one from North Carolina Central University.
On 15 October 2009, ''The Sunday Times'', reported: "While Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and Oxford top both the QS and Sunday Times rankings (albeit in different orders), the world rankings are not always popular among our leading universities. “The world ranking is the league table we love to hate” said Niall Scott, Director of Corporate Communications at the ''University of St Andrews'', “because the methodology seems to punish smaller institutions. To us it’s an anomalous result. We are consistently top five domestically but suddenly find ourselves further down the world rankings and behind universities that are behind us domestically. There’s no logic, no science to that. It is a different methodology.”
The AllAboutUni.com assessment highlights a number of important differences between the two major rankings of the World’s Top-25 universities. THE-QS, which is a British publication, is a more international ranking but it appears to have a bias for British universities and a bias against public US universities. In addition, two highly ranked universities in ARWU – Stanford (ranked 2nd) and Berkeley (ranked 3rd) – are ranked significantly lower by THE-QS.
From a student perspective, Bridget Fitzsimons, a student journalist at ''University College Dublin'' (UCD), wrote ratings, such as the ''Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings'' can never be fully relevant to students.
Asian Rankings
QS began publishing its Asian University Rankings in 2009. They use some of the same data as the World Univesity Rankings as well as new information on topics such as universities' inbound and outbound exchange students.
Research
The QS Intelligence Unit is a part of QS which provides strategic information to business schools, universities, and employers going beyond the information contained in the World University Rankings. Its products include:
The QS Global 200 Business Schools: The Employers' Choice, a list of the business schools that attract the most international recruiters.
TopMBA Recruitment and Salary Report, an annual survey of MBA employers worldwide to determine trends in international salaries and recruitment.
TopMBA Applicants Research Report, which analyses the status, attitudes, goals and ambitions of MBA applicants annually.
TopGradSchool Applicants Research Report, analogous to TopMBA but concentrating on a broader range of postgraduate applicants.
Benchmarking
QS draws on the data collected for the QS World University Rankings and other information which it gathers to offer a benchmarking services to universities, comparing them with their peers.
QS Stars
QS Stars is a system used to evaluate universities on a range of performance indicators. These include research quality, graduate employability, careers service support, teaching quality, infrastructure such as sports facilities and medical care, student societies and accommodation, IT and libraries, international appeal, innovation and knowledge transfer, and community involvement.
Software
QS delivers admissions and careers service solutions for universities, business schools, alumni networks and other relevant communities that require online; outreach, enquiry management, applications and networking solutions.
QS MBA Events
QS runs a number of MBA related events, notably the World MBA Tour and TopMBA Connect 121, in major cities around the world designed to provide a meeting place for business schools and prospective MBA candidates. Schools that regularly attend these events include
University of Chicago Booth School of Business,
USC Marshall,
NYU Stern, the
S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell,
INSEAD,
IE Business School,
ESADE,
London Business School,
HEC Paris,
IMD, and
CEIBS.
Scholarships
QS Trust awards scholarships each year to six or more outstanding young professionals for their demonstration of socially responsible leadership. The QS Trust also runs a scholarship scheme in collaboration with business schools and universities around the world. In 2009, QS offered US$1,600,000 in scholarship funding to participants from around the world.
History
1988-90: QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd was founded as a student initiative whilst Nunzio Quacquarelli was completing his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
1990: TopMBA Career Guide and TopMBA International MBA Recruitment and Salary Research launched.
1995: The first QS World MBA Tour was held in just two cities – London and Paris. Today, the tour travels to over 70 cities across five continents.
1996: QS TopMBA Global Recruiters Top 100 Business Schools - an alternative to business school rankings, providing a list of business schools currently preferred by the most international MBA recruiters. In 2009, the name of this report changed to "QS Global 200 Business Schools 2009: The Employers' Choice".
1998: QS TopMBA.com Applicants Research - a survey into the mindset and aspirations of MBA applicants.
2001
*QS World Grad School Tour was launched; today, the tour visits over 40 cities in more than 30 countries.
*QS acquired Global Workplace, a network for professionals and employers looking to connect with alumni from international business schools.
2002: QS Career Forums - a program of recruitment and career development events
2004: THE-QS World University Rankings launched in collaboration with the ''Times Higher Education''.
2005
*Scorecard - an online search and personal ranking tool of business schools worldwide
*QS APPLE - The Asia Pacific Professional Leaders in Education annual conference and exhibition for international educators in Asia, Europe, America and Australasia.
*QS Education Trust - a non-profit trust company providing scholarships for international study to candidates each year.
2005-2006: QS TopApply - a specialized CRM system was launched that integrates in with business schools' internal application and candidate management processes.
2007: QS TopInternships – a community website for helping first degree and Masters students locate internships, with an initial focus on English speaking countries around the world.
2008: QS Asian University Rankings launch announced in partnership with ''Chosun Ilbo'' in Korea.
2009
*TopUniversities & World of Study Tour launches in London serving high school students and young professionals looking to emigrate through an international degree or vocational qualification.
*QS acquired German software company unisolution, a European supplier of software solutions and services for institutions of higher education in the area of internationalization.
References
External links
TopUniversities.com — Quacquarelli Symonds
THE - QS World University Rankings 2009 — full rankings (top 200)
Global-Workplace.com — Quacquarelli Symonds
World MBA Tour — Quacquarelli Symonds
World Grad School Tour — Quacquarelli Symonds
Connect 121 — Quacquarelli Symonds
topinternships.com — Quacquarelli Symonds
QS Intelligence Unit blog page — QS Intelligence Unit
Category:Companies established in 1990
Category:Education companies
th:Quacquarelli Symonds