Tercera edición de U-Multirank: en busca de la diferencia

La European University Association,  ha publicado la  tercera versión de U-Multirank, una plataforma online que permite al usuario comparar universidades de una manera más interactiva y diferenciada de la que  muestran los rankings tradicionales. Esta edición ofrece información de más que 1.300 instituciones de Educación Superior en más de 90 países. La mayoría, un 60%, son europeas. Sin duda, es importante que los rankings ofrezcan más opciones para que los estudiantes tomen su propia decisión sobre cuál es la universidad que mejor responde a sus aspiraciones y expectativas. U-Multirank es un paso en la dirección correcta, pero todavía hay trabajo por hacer para mejorar y fomentar la información que se da a los usuarios.

The European University Association is a representative organization of European Universities. With U-Multirank, they offer a new way to compare and understand universities that goes beyond the traditional rigidity of rankings.

It seems to be appreciated, as over 105,000 students worldwide use this ranking site.

Information came from the universities to the site through either the university providing data to the consortium or simply relying on publicly available biometric data. Users of the site can choose different searching options; looking at convenient readymade rankings which show what universities are performing best in certain areas. It should be noted, however, that only one readymade ranking for “Research and Research Linkages” is currently present on the site. Apart from this feature, students can search for universities that match their desires in terms of academic subject. They can also compare by looking at similar universities or selecting one university to compare. Finally, they can select one university to explore using the site’s university profiles. Given that the organization is based in Europe, it is logical that the data for universities outside of Europe seems to be less robust.

While this type of interactive ranking reaches beyond the mold of traditional rankings in a single numbered list, there is still much that needs to be done to inform university decisions, such as information regarding campus live in a given university. Additionally, many of the institutions lack comprehensive information, which will assumedly be built up in the coming years. This is especially true of the non-European universities featured.

U-Multirank offers a great model for university comparison, but there is still work to be done in making it a truly comprehensive tool.

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*Referencia elaborada por Hannah Taylor y Miguel Ángel Sancho para universídad.