MIT, Harvard Top Latest QS World University Rankings

MIT by Niall Kennedy on Flickr/Creative Commons

London-based QS released its annual world university rankings this week, with two local schools sitting high atop the list.

MIT ranked No. 1 overall for the sixth consecutive year, with its Cantabrigian counterpart Harvard residing in third place. “Based in Cambridge, MIT’s labs and classroom continue to deliver pioneering research into the world’s most pressing issues, such as cancer therapy, identity politics, global engagement, energy, public service and industry,” QS wrote.

Also representing Massachusetts in the top 400 were Boston University (81st), Tufts University (tied-243rd), UMass Amherst (249th), Boston College (tied-339th), Northeastern University (tied-346th).

To compile its ranking, QS compared the world’s top universities using six metrics: academic reputation (based on a survey of 70,000 higher-ed professionals), employer reputation (based on a survey of 30,000 international employers), faculty-student ratio, citations per faculty (total number of citations received by all papers produced by faculty members at institution across a five-year period), international faculty ratio, and international student ratio.

You can check out the full rankings here.