Fábri G., Universities on the Crossroads of National and Global Rankings, Tempus Public Foundation 2017, Pages: 21

On behalf of the Tempus Public Foundation, and within the framework of the Campus Mundi project, a research study was conducted to give an overview of the methodological and the higher education policy criticism of rankings, highlighting one of their most important elements - the use of indicators. As a case study, the research analyses the positions of Hungarian higher education institutions in rankings. It focuses on indicators of rankings that foreign students take into account when evaluating their interest in Hungarian higher education, as well as the aspects of higher education rankings of top destination countries of Hungarian (outbound) students.

The study’s analysis is based on an interpretative frame developed in the course of this research, which lead to the conclusion that rankings do not solely measure and reflect the performance of an institution, but currently are the most efficient media communication tools of higher education. Being at the crossroads of global and national rankings, universities are increasingly driven to undertake various communication tasks and develop different strategies. On the other hand, users of rankings are faced with a challenge of interpretation, of understanding what rankings measure, and how this reflects the dimensions and preferences they seek to evaluate in a given institution.

Universities on the Crossroads of National and Global Rankings – full report