USP Leads Latin American Ranking for the Third Consecutive Time

05/29/2013 - 08h23

Compared to neighboring universities, São Paulo University (USP) appears yet again as the leader in education quality in Latin America. That is the conclusion of a ranking with 300 universities of the region disclosed by the British group 'QS,' which ranks universities by region and world-wide.

There are other Brazilian universities among the top ten: Unicamp (3rd place) and the federal universities of Rio de Janeiro (8th) and Minas Gerais (10th).

Brazil is the country with more institutions in the ranking: it has 81 universities (80% are public). Mexico, the runner-up, has 49 institutions in all.

USP dean João Grandino Rodas commemorated USP's position on the lists. He told Folha the result represents an "important recognition for the university." But is college education doing so well in Brazil? Not really.

In a more international comparison, Brazil falls many positions.USP is number 139 on the global ranking of 'QS' last year. Unicamp is 228th on the same list. "The criteria of the world and Latin American rankings have changed. The world rankings have indicators that favor English-speaking universities," says Unicamp linguist and higher-education specialist Carlos Vogt.

Among these criteria is the "impact indicator," which counts the number of times an academic paper is mentioned in scientific articles. "Most of the scientific production in Latin American countries is in its native language," says Voght. Ben Sowter, the coordinator of the QS study, says publishing papers in English is the "great challenge" of Brazilian universities.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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