Study in Germany 뀀 Study guide 뀀 University City 뀀 University City of Aachen

뀀 Old residence, baths and pilgrimage city
Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located in the border triangle near the Dutch and Belgian border. The small student town has around 250 000 inhabitants.
Under the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne, who resided here from 768 in 1165 and was eventually canonized to Aachen became an important royal residence. In 936 a king was crowned in Aachen

Study in Germany 뀀 Study guide 뀀 University Details 뀀 Fachhochschule Aachen

Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Type /: College/state
Year of establishment: 1971
Number of students: 8232
Promotions-/Habilitationsrecht: Yes / No
Country: Germany
Office address: Kalverbenden 6
52066 Aachen
Postal Address: Postfach 10 05 60
52005 Aachen
Phone: (0241) 6009-0
Fax: (0241) 6009-1090
Homepage: http://www.fh-aachen.de/
뀀 Responsible Student Services / Student Office:
Location:

The Texas Tribune: University of Texas System Prepares for Its Newest Member

ӀIҀm calling it U.T.-T.B.D. ThatҀs the stage weҀre at,Ԁ said Robert S. Nelsen, the president of the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, using the abbreviation for Ӏto be determined.Ԁ

But the matter is not entirely a mystery. The institution, which will open once its accreditation has been secured, will be a part of the University of Texas System and is expected to start out with 28,000 students, making it among the countyҀs largest institutions serving primarily Hispanic students. It will have a medical school, which, like the rest of the university, will have locations throughout the Valley. The systemҀs plans include physical presences in Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen and McAllen.

But first, Gov. Rick Perry must sign Senate Bill 24, by State Senator Juan Hinojosa, Democrat of McAllen. That would give the go-ahead to the University of Texas Board of Regents to abolish the University of Texas at Brownsville and U.T.-Pan American and combine their resources to create the new institution.

ӀThis is not about merging the two universities,Ԁ said Senator Eddie Lucio Jr., Democrat of Brownsville. ӀIt is about creating a new one. We have an incredible opportunity now to become one valley and one region.Ԁ

The universityҀs academic offerings will largely be located on the existing Brownsville and Edinburg campuses, both of which are expected to grow. And S.B. 24 requires that the first two years of the medical schoolҀs classes be primarily offered in Hidalgo County, where facilities will have to be built, and that the second two years be primarily offered at what is currently the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen.

Administrative offices will be distributed throughout the region, with the primary headquarters likely to be located in McAllen.

In December, Francisco G. Cigarroa, the University of Texas SystemҀs chancellor, revealed his plan to replace the two smaller universities with a single larger institution. The design included a full-fledged medical school as part of the university. Such a combination was virtually unheard of in Texas until recently, when the University of Texas at Austin announced plans to build its own medical school.

The proposal needed the support of at least two-thirds of state lawmakers, which would allow the new university to access the Permanent University Fund, a major source of revenue that only certain institutions can tap. The two existing Valley universities were the only two U.T. System institutions ineligible for the fundҀs proceeds, a major impediment to their growth.

With the proposal getting the required support from lawmakers during the 83rd legislative session, it awaits the signature of Mr. Perry, who has signaled his support. After the bill passed through both chambers, he issued a statement, calling it Ӏa historic moment.Ԁ

After the governor signs S.B. 24, Dr. Cigarroa said, Ӏthe real work begins.Ԁ The chancellor anticipates it will take 12 to 18 months to get the plan for the university laid out, reviewed and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The system is working to determine how quickly the regents can allocate money from the Permanent University Fund to new buildings and faculty recruitment efforts. The new medical school is expected to graduate its first class in 2018.

ӀWeҀre going to start moving fairly fast, but not overly fast where we donҀt get the input thatҀs necessary to make a university great,Ԁ Dr. Cigarroa said.

Faculty members from the two universities have begun holding informal meetings, said Elizabeth Heise, the president of U.T.-BrownsvilleҀs faculty senate.

ӀThereҀs a lot of anticipation of something new, and people are excited,Ԁ she said.

Recently, rather than designing a new university, much of the work at U.T.-Brownsville has been dismantling an old one. For the last two decades, the university has operated with Texas Southmost College, a two-year school, as a single entity. That partnership recently unraveled. The completion of the split will come no later than 2015, so the university is in the process of vacating the property owned by Texas Southmost College.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 7, 2013

An earlier version of this article misstated the name given to U.T.-Pan American teams. They are the Broncs, not the Broncos.

View the original article here

Germany Universities 1

Rheinisch-Westf䀀lische Technische Hochschule Aachen Templergraben 55 D-52062 Aachen Phone: +49 -241 -80-1 Fax: +49- 241 - 8 88 81 00

Universit䀀t Augsburg Universit䀀tsstr. 2 D-86159 Augsburg Phone: +49 - 821 - 598 - 1 Fax: +49 - 821 - 5 98 - 5505

Otto-Friedrich-Universit䀀t Bamberg Kapuzinerstr. 16 D-96047 Bamberg Phone: +49 - 951 - 863 - 0 Fax: +49 - 951 - 8 63 - 1005

Universit䀀t Bayreuth Universit䀀tsstr. 30 D-95447 Bayreuth Phone: +49 - 921 - 55-1 Fax: +49 - 951 - 55 - 52 90

Technische Universit䀀t Berlin Stra߀e des 17. Juni 135 D-10623 Berlin Phone: +49 - 30 - 314 - 0 Fax: +49 - 30 - 3 - 14 - 23222

Humboldt-Universit䀀t Berlin (HUB) Unter den Linden 6 D-10099 Berlin Phone: +49 - 30 - 20 93 - 0 Fax: +49 - 30 - 20 93 - 2770

Freie Universit䀀t Berlin (FUB) Kaiserswerther Str. 16 - 18 D-14195 Berlin Phone: +49 - 30 - 8 38 - 1 Fax: +49 - 30 - 8 32 65 61

Universit䀀t Bielefeld Universit䀀tsstr. 25 D-33615 Bielefeld Phone: +49 - 521 - 106 - 00 Fax: +49 - 521 - 1 06 - 58 44

Ruhr-Universit䀀t Bochum Universit䀀tsstr. 150 Bochum Phone: +49 - 234 - 7 00- 1 Fax: +49 - 234 - 7 09 -42 01

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universit䀀t Bonn Regina-Pacis-Weg 3 D-53113 Bonn Phone: +49 - 228 - 73-0 Fax: +49 - 228 - 73 72 62

Technische Universit䀀t Braunschweig Pockelsstr. 14 D-38106 Braunschweig Phone: +49 - 531 - 391- 0 Fax: +49 - 531 - 391- 45 77

Universit䀀t Bremen Bibliothekstr. 1 D-28359 Bremen Phone: +49 - 421 - 218- 1 Fax: +49 - 421 - 218- 42 59

Technische Universit䀀t Chemnitz-Zwickau Stra߀e der Nationen 62 D-09111 Chemnitz Phone: +49 - 371 - 531- 0S Fax: +49 - 371 - 531- 13 42

Technische Universit䀀t Clausthal Adolph-R怀mer-Str. 2a D-38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld Phone: +49 - 5323 - 72- 0 Fax: +49 - 5323 - 72 - 3500

Brandenburgische Technische Universit䀀t Cottbus Karl-Marx-Str. 17 D-03044 Cottbus Phone: +49 - 355 - 69 - 0 Fax: +49 - 355 - 69 - 21 56

Technische Hochschule Darmstadt Karolinenplatz 5 D-64289 Darmstadt Phone: +49 - 6151 - 16- 80 02 Fax: +49 - 6151 - 16- 54 89

Universit䀀t Dortmund August-Schmidt-Str. 4 D-44227 Dortmund Phone: +49 - 231 - 755 -1 Fax: +49 - 231 - 75 15 32

Technische Universit䀀t Dresden Mommsenstra߀e 13 D-01062 Dresden Phone: +49 - 351 - 463- 0 Fax: +49 - 351 - 4 71 02 94

Heinrich-Heine-Universit䀀t D쀀sseldorf Universit䀀tsstr. 1 D-40225 D쀀sseldorf Phone: +49 -211 - 81- 00 Fax: +49 -211 - 34 22 29

Germany Universities 2

Universit䀀t Erlangen-N쀀rnberg Schlo߀platz 4 D-91054 Erlangen Phone: +49 - 9131 - 85-0 Fax: +49 - 9131 - 85- 21 31

Universit䀀t / Gesamthochschule Essen Universit䀀tsstr. 2 D-45141 Essen Phone: +49 - 201 - 183- 1 Fax: +49 - 201 - 183- 35 36

Johan Wolfgang Goethe-Universit䀀t Frankfurt am Main Senckenberganlage 31 D-60054 Frankfurt am Main Phone: +49 - 69 - 7 98 - 1 Fax: +49 - 69 - 7 98 - 28383

Europa-Universit䀀t Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) Gro߀e Scharrnstr. 59 D-15230 Frankfurt/Oder Phone: +49 - 335 - 55 34 -0 Fax: +49 - 335 - 55 34 - 305

Technische Universit䀀t Bergakademie Freiberg Akademiestr. 6 D-09596 Freiberg Phone: +49 - 3731 - 39- 0 Fax: +49 - 3731 - 2 21 95

Universit䀀t Freiburg im Breisgau Heinrich-von-Stephan-Str. 25 D-79100 Freiburg Phone: +49 - 761 - 203- 0 Fax: +49 - 761 - 203- 4369

Justus-Liebig-Universit䀀t Gie߀en Ludwigstr. 23 D-35390 Gie߀en Phone: +49 - 641 - 99 - 0 Fax: +49 - 641 - 99 - 12289

Georg-August-Universit䀀t G怀ttingen Go߀lerstr. 5-7 D-37073 G怀ttingen Phone: +49 - 551 - 39- 0 Fax: +49 - 551 - 39- 9612

Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universit䀀t Greifswald Domstr. 11 D-17489 Greifswald Phone: +49 - 3834 - 86-0 Fax: +49 - 3834 - 86- 1248

Martin-Luther-Universit䀀t Halle-Wittenberg Universit䀀tsplatz 10 D-06108 Halle Phone: +49 - 345 - 552- 0 Fax: +49 - 345 - 2 19 69 - 29

Universit䀀t Hamburg Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 D-20146 Hamburg Phone: +49 - 40 - 41 23 -1 Fax: +49 - 40 - 41 23 - 2449

Technische Universit䀀t Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) Denickestr. 22 D-21073 Hamburg Phone: +49 - 40 - 77 18 - 0 Fax: +49 - 40 - 77 18 - 20 40

Universit䀀t Hannover Welfengarten 1a D-30167 Hannover Phone: +49 - 511 - 762- 0 Fax: +49 - 511 - 762- 3456

Medizinische Hochschule Hannover Carl-Neuberg-Str. 8 D-30623 Hannover Phone: +49 - 511 - 532- 1 Fax: +49 - 511 - 532- 5576

Ruprecht-Karls-Universit䀀t Heidelberg Grabengasse 1 D-69117 Heidelberg Phone: +49 - 6221 - 54 -0 Fax: +49 - 6221 - 54 - 2618

Universit䀀t Hildesheim Marienburger Platz 22 D-31141 Hildesheim Phone: +49 - 5121 - 8 83- 0 Fax: +49 - 5121 - 86 75 58

Universit䀀t Hohenheim (Stuttgart) Schlo߀ Hohenheim D-70599 Stuttgart Phone: +49 -711 - 459 - 0 Fax: +49 -711 - 459 - 2785

Germany Universities 3

Technische Universit䀀t Ilmenau Max-Planck-Ring 14 D-98693 Ilmenau Phone: +49 - 3677 - 69 -0 Fax: +49 - 3677 - 69 - 1701

Friedrich-Schiller-Universit䀀t Jena F쀀rstengraben 1 D-07743 Jena Phone: + 49 - 3641 - 63- 00 Fax: + 49 - 3641 - 63 23 45

Universit䀀t Kaiserslautern Erwin-Schr怀dinger-Stra߀e D-67663 Kaiserslautern Phone: + 49 - 631 - 205- 0 Fax: + 49 - 631 - 205- 32 00

Universit䀀t Karlsruhe Kaiserstr. 12 D-76131 Karlsruhe Phone: + 49 - 721 - 608 - 0 Fax: + 49 - 721 - 608 - 4290

Universit䀀t Kassel M怀nchebergstra߀e 19 D-34125 Kassel Phone: + 49 - 561 - 804- 0 Fax: + 49 - 561 - 804 - 2330

Universit䀀t Kiel Olshausenstr. 40 D-24118 Kiel Phone: + 49 - 431 - 880- 00 Fax: + 49 - 431 - 880- 1355

Universit䀀t K怀ln Albertus-Magnus-Platz D-50931 K怀ln Phone: + 49 - 221 - 470 - 0 Fax: + 49 - 221 - 470 - 5151

Universit䀀t Konstanz Universit䀀tsstra߀e 10 D-78464 Konstanz Phone: + 49 - 7531 - 88 - 1 Fax: + 49 - 7531 - 88 - 3688

Universit䀀t Leipzig Augustusplatz 10-11 D-04109 Leipzig Phone: + 49 - 341 - 97 -108 Fax: + 49 - 341 - 97 -30099

Medizinische Universit䀀t L쀀beck Ratzeburger Allee 160 D-23538 L쀀beck Phone: + 49 - 0451 - 500 - 0 Fax: + 49 - 0451 - 500 - 3016

Universit䀀t L쀀neburg Scharnhorststr. 1 D-21335 L쀀neburg Phone: + 49 - 4131 - 78- 0 Fax: + 49 - 4131 - 78- 1091

Otto-von-Guericke-Universit䀀t Magdeburg Universit䀀tsplatz 2 D-39016 Magdeburg Phone: + 49 - 391 - 67- 01 Fax: + 49 - 391 - 67- 11156

Johannes Gutenberg-Universit䀀t Mainz Saarstr. 21 D-55122 Mainz Phone: + 49 - 6131 - 39 - 0 Fax: + 49 - 6131 - 39 - 2919

Universit䀀t Mannheim Schlo߀ D-68131 Mannheim Phone: + 49 - 0621 - 292 -5151 Fax: + 49 - 0621 - 292 - 2587

Philipps-Universit䀀t Marburg Biegenstr. 12 D-35037 Marburg Phone: + 49 - 6421 - 28- 0 Fax: + 49 - 6421 - 28- 2500

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit䀀t M쀀nchen Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1 D-80539 M쀀nchen Phone: + 49 - 89 - 21 80 - 0 Fax: + 49 - 89 - 21 80 - 2322

Technische Universit䀀t M쀀nchen Arcisstr. 21 D-80290 M쀀nchen Phone: + 49 - 89 - 289 - 01 Fax: + 49 - 89 - 289 - 2000

Westf䀀lische Wilhelms-Universit䀀t M쀀nster Schlo߀platz 2a D-48149 M쀀nster Phone: + 49 - 251 - 83 - 0 Fax: + 49 - 251 - 83 - 24831

Germany Universities 4

Carl von Ossietzky Universit䀀t Oldenburg Ammerl䀀nder Heerstra߀e 114-118 D-26111 Oldenburg Phone: +49 - 441 - 798 -0 Fax: +49 - 441 - 798 - 3000

Universit䀀t Osnabr쀀ck Neuer Graben Schlo߀ 19-21 D-49074 Osnabr쀀ck Phone: +49 - 541 - 969- 0 Fax: +49 - 541 - 969- 4570

Universit䀀t / Gesamthochschule Paderborn Warburger Stra߀e 100 D-33098 Paderborn Phone: +49 - 5251 - 60- 0 Fax: +49 - 5251 - 60- 2519

Universit䀀t Passau Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger-Str. 22 D-94032 Passau Phone: +49 - 851 - 509- 0 Fax: +49 - 851 - 509- 1005

Fachhochschule Potsdam Pappelallee 8-9 D-14469 Potsdam Phone: +49 - 331 - 5 80 - 00 Fax: +49 - 331 - 5 80 - 2999

Universit䀀t Regensburg Universit䀀tsstra߀e 31 D-93053 Regensburg Phone: +49 - 941 - 943- 01 Fax: +49 - 941 - 943- 2305

Universit䀀t Rostock Universit䀀tsplatz 1 D-18055 Rostock Phone: +49 - 381 - 498- 0 Fax: +49 - 381 - 498- 1107

Universit䀀t des Saarlandes Im Stadtwald D-66123 Saarbr쀀cken Phone: +49 - 681 - 302- 0 Fax: +49 - 681 - 302- 2609

Universit䀀t Siegen Herrengarten 3 D-57068 Siegen Phone: +49 - 271 -740- 1 Fax: +49 - 271 -740- 4899

Universit䀀t Stuttgart Keplerstra߀e 7 D-70174 Stuttgart Phone: +49 - 711 - 121- 0 Fax: +49 - 711 - 121- 2271

Universit䀀t Trier Universit䀀tsring 15 D-54296 Trier Phone: +49 - 651 - 201- 0 Fax: +49 - 651 - 201- 4299

Eberhard-Karls-Universit䀀t T쀀bingen Wilhelmstra߀e 7 D-72074 T쀀bingen Phone: +49 - 7071 - 29- 0 Fax: +49 - 7071 - 29- 75990

Universit䀀t Ulm Albert-Einstein-Allee 5 D-89069 Ulm Phone: +49 - 731 - 502- 01 Fax: +49 - 731 - 502- 2038

Bauhaus-Universit䀀t Weimar Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 8 D-99423 Weimar Phone: +49 - 3643 - 58 - 0 Fax: +49 - 3643 - 58 - 1120

Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universit䀀t W쀀rzburg Sanderring 2 D-97070 W쀀rzburg Phone: +49 - 931 - 31- 0 Fax: +49 - 931 - 31- 2600

Bergische Universit䀀t / Gesamthochschule Wuppertal Gau߀stra߀e 20 D-42119 Wuppertal Phone: +49 - 202 - 439-1 Fax: +49 - 202 - 439- 2899

Scotland Has Highest Density of World's Top-500 Universities in the U.K.

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com found that Scotland has the highest density of the World's Top-500 universities in the United Kingdom. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and interactive website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures).

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University click here. Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include highly cited researchers, articles indexed in major citation indices and staff winning Nobel Prizes.

The WorldҀs Top-500 universities (2008) are mainly located in Europe (n=210; 40%), the Americas (n=190; 40%) and the Asian/Pacific region (n=100; 20%) (click here). There are 42 (8%) universities located in the United Kingdom (UK), representing 20% of the universities in Europe.

The top-10 universities in the UK (click here) are: University of Cambridge (ranked 4th in the world), the University of Oxford (10th), University College London (22nd), Imperial College London (27th), The University of Manchester (40th), University of Edinburgh (55th), University of Bristol (61st), University of Sheffield (77th), KingҀs College London (81st) and University of Nottingham (82nd).

The UK has the highest number of universities in the WorldҀs Top-500 universities (42) compared to the other European countries: Germany (40), France (23), Italy (22), the Netherlands (12), Sweden (11) and Spain (9). In the ranking of Europe's Top-10 universities, five are located in the UK and in the Top-25 universities, 9 are located in the United Kingdom (click here).

The UK universities are located in following regions: England (34), Scotland (5), Wales (2) and Northern Ireland (1). An interesting difference is that universities in Scotland are much older than in the other three regions: the median age of the Scottish universities is 513 years (range 127-598) compared to 101 years (range 39-912) in England and 107 years (range 88-125) in Wales.

In order to make a comparison with other industrialized countries, AllAboutUni.com calculates the number of universities in the WorldҀs Top-500 (2008) per one million inhabitants. The overall number of universities per million inhabitants in industrialised countries is 0.5. An earlier assessment found that small countries in Western Europe (Sweden (1.2), Finland (1.1) and Switzerland (1.0)) (click here) and New Zealand (1.2) have the highest number of universities per million inhabitants.

The number of universities in the WorldҀs Top-500 universities that are located in the UK is 0.7 per million inhabitants, which compares favourably with other large industrialized countries: Canada (0.6), Germany (0.5), United States (0.5), France (0.4), Italy (0.4) and Japan (0.2). For the four regions of the United Kingdom, the numbers are as follows: Scotland (1.0), England (0.7), Wales (0.7) and Northern Ireland (0.6).

Conclusions:
Within the UK, Scotland has a much higher density of top universities compared to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland also performs very well compared to other industrialised countries and the number of Scottish universities per million inhabitants is one of the highest in the world.

Summary:
An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com found that Scotland has the highest density of top universities in the United Kingdom. In addition, the assessment found that Scotland has one of the highest densities of top universities per million inhabitants in the world.

What Makes a Top University?

A number of assessments carried out by AllAboutUni.com indicate that the general characteristics of a top university are the following: being based in North America or Europe, being in an area where other top universities are clustered, having a large endowment and being a private institution. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and interactive website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures).

The analysis is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs Top-500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (click here). Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 ranking published on 15 August 2008.

Location
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the WorldҀs Top-500 universities are mainly located in Europe (n=210; 40%) and the Americas (n=190; 40%) (click here). In the Americas, 95% of the universities are located in the United States (84%; n=159) and Canada (11%; n=21).

Clustering
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that in both the United States (US) and Europe there is a clustering of the worldҀs top universities. In the US, 36% (57 out of 159) of universities - more than one in three - are located in just five States: New York (15), California (13), Texas (13), Massachusetts (9) and Pennsylvania (7) (click here). In Europe, more than one in three (36%) of the Top-25 universities are located in United Kingdom (click here).

Public - Private
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that 70% of the World's Top-10 universities are private institutions, suggesting that at the very top of the rankings private universities perform better than public universities (click here). In the WorldҀs Top-25 universities, there is a lower predominance of private universities, with 11 out of 25 universities being private (click here).

Endowment
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the WorldҀs Top-25 universities have accumulated a massive amount of endowment wealth (a total of $170 billion) and the private universities in the US have accumulated more wealth than the public universities (click here). A large university endowment supports the operating budget of a university (for example, a third of Harvard UniversityҀs operating budget comes from endowment income).

Age
An AllAboutUni.com assessment found that the age of a university was not associated with being in the World's Top-25 universities (click here). Two good examples of 'young' universities achieving a high ranking are Stanford University (established in 1891 and ranked 2nd) and the University of California - San Diego (established in 1960 and ranked 14th).

Other factors
Other factors that will determine the ranking of a university include: the university infrastructure (campus, facilities, etc.), the working conditions (academic salaries, academic freedom, etc.), the levels of funding (public and private funding) and the quality of life in the region where the university is located.

Conclusion
A series of AllAboutUni.com assessments has identified a number of general characteristics that help make a top university. The very strong performance of private universities in the World's Top-10 universities (7 out of 10) suggests that private universities are better able manage the different factors and etablish a top university.

Massive Accumulation of Endowment Wealth by the WorldҀs Best-25 Universities

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni.com reveals that a massive accumulation of endowment wealth has been put together by the World's Top-25 universities [1]. AllAboutUni.com is an independent, global and interactive website where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures).

The WorldҀs Top-25 universities in 2008 (click here) are mainly located in the United States (18 out of 25) and are often private institutions (11 out of 25). This distribution is more pronounced for the WorldҀs Top-10 universities, where 8 out of 10 are located in the United States (US) and 7 out of 10 are private institutions (click here).

Total endowments for each of the universities were collected from Wikipedia.org (accessed on 29 October 2008), and non-US endowments were converted into US dollars (exchange rate of 29 October 2008). The endowments of two universities were not available: the University of Tokyo in Japan (ranked 19th) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ր Zurich in Switzerland (ranked jointly 24th). The analysis is therefore based on 23 universities (18 from the US and 5 from other countries (United Kingdom (3), Canada and Japan) and is a conservative estimate.

The total endowment of the 23 universities was $170.2 billion, and ranged from $172 million (University College London in the UK, ranked 22nd) to $36.9 billion (Harvard University in the US, ranked 1st). The median endowment is $5.9 billion, with universities in the US having higher endowments (median of $6.1 billion, range $471 million to $36.9 billion) than those in the other countries (median of $2.2 billion, range $172 million to $3.4 billion).

Four private universities in the US had 56% of the total endowment wealth of the World's Top-25 universities: Harvard University ($36.9 billion - 22%), Yale University ($22.9 billion - 14%), Stanford University ($17.2 billion - 10%) and Princeton University ($17 billion - 10%). It is therefore no surprise that the private universities in the US have higher endowments (median of $7.2 billion) than the public universities in the US (median of $1.3 billion).

This accumulation of wealth by the World's Top-25 universities is quite astonishing. For example, the total wealth accumulated by the World's Top-25 universities is greater than the budget of the State of California ($111 billion in 2008-09) or it places these universities 41st in the country ranking of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to the International Monetary Fund (in front of Nigeria, Romania and Israel).

The accumulation of endowment wealth by universities has both positive and negative sides. A large university endowment supports the operating budget of the university and gives the university greater independence and resources which can be used, for example, to establish new research institutes or to fund scholarships. In the fiscal year 2008, distributions from the Harvard University endowment totalled $1.6 billion, contributing more than one third of the university's operating budget in addition to supporting substantial capital outlays (click here).

There are also a number of negative sides associated with large university endowments. One of these is that it gives the university an image of accumulating too much wealth and being greedy. Another is that it leads to criticism about the allocation of the endowment income (for example, Harvard University could allow its students to attend for free for just $300 million, which is a fraction of the 2008 endowment income (click here). Finally, it makes it impossible for other (less well endowed) universities around the world to compete on an even playing field with universities that have established very large endowments.

Background note:
[1] The analysis is based on a ranking of the WorldҀs Top-500 Universities produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (click here). Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers and articles indexed in major citation indices. The rankings have been published since 2003, with the 2008 ranking published on 15 August 2008.