Israeli higher education world’s 19th best

Israel’s higher education system is the 19th best in the world, according to a report published last week by Universitas 21 that evaluates every country’s education system as a whole rather than looking at individual institutions.

Israel was the highest-ranked country in its regional category of Africa and the Middle East, with Iran (ranked 42nd overall) coming in second. The US topped the world rankings, with Sweden, Canada, Finland and Denmark rounding out the top five. Britain placed 10th.

According to the report, the US and Britain have the top universities, but on a weighted per capita basis the availability of world-class universities is highest in Switzerland and Sweden, with Israel third.

Israel also placed third, behind Russia and Canada, in per capita percentage of the populace with higher education.

The list ranks a total of 48 countries, chosen based on the top countries in the American National Science Foundation rankings of research output, with small changes based on G20 ratings.

The scale ranks the 48 countries using 20 criteria in four different categories:

1. Resources — funds invested, by the government and individual donors, towards higher education. Israel was 16th on the list, with Canada at number one.
2. Output — number of educated people in the workforce and research. The US led this category, and Israel was 13th.
3. Connectivity — international working partnerships and cooperation. Austria was the top ranked country in this category, with Israel coming in 27th.
4. Environment — national policies and participation opportunities. Here Israel placed 20th, while the Netherlands was first.

Israel received an overall score of 67.37%. The resources and environment categories each counted for 25% of the total, connectivity for 10% and output for the remaining 40%.

Universitas 21, founded in 1997, is a network of 21 member universities in 12 countries.