Japan Targets the THE Rankings

The Wall Street Journal has an article about the proposed transformation of Japanese higher education. The national government is apparently using financial pressure to persuade universities to either become world class or local industry-orientated institutions.

World class means being in the top 100 of the THE world university rankings. Japan wants to have ten there. Now it only has two.

It is not a good idea to focus on just one ranking. If the Japanese government insists on aiming at just one then  THE might not be the best bet. The Shanghai rankings are more stable, reliable and transparent. In addition, it seems that the THE rankings are biased against Japan.