Eduniversal

Eduniversal is a university ranking business by the French consulting company and rating agency SMBG specialized in Higher Education.[1] Founded in 1994, one of the main goals of Eduniversal is to provide a tool, for students all around the world, which provides information on the Best Business Schools, located in Eduniversal's 9 geographical regions (the 5 continents).

The Eduniversal ranking agency establishes an official selection of the Best 1000 Business Schools in more than 150 countries in the world. The purpose of this selection is to offer students a serious referent that reflects the international dimension of each School, and therefore enables them to make the right decision regarding the choice of their future School.

The official selection is the result of the work of an International Scientific Committee gathered at the initiative of the Eduniversal Company. The International Scientific Committee is composed of 12 members; 9 members coming from nine different geographic zones (Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Middle East, Far East Asia, Latin America, North America, Oceania and Western Europe), and 2 members from the Eduniversal Company (The CEO and the International Coordinator).[2]

It is interesting to note that, while the company is known as Eduniversal all around the world, in France it is known as SMBG.[3]

The Official Selection of the best 1000 Business Schools

The official selection[4] as it is defined by the Eduniversal Company is the classification of the 1000 best Business Schools in 153 countries in the World. The selection is classified in terms of Palms and Ratings, issued from the Deans' votes. The aim of this official selection is to provide sufficient information for students about a range of academic institutions, sorted by their reputations and international ambitions and located in 9 different zones.

Methodology

Official Selection

The Official Selection is a selection of Business Schools made by a Scientific Committee that has established a global mapping system meeting the criteria of universality and the international reputation of each academic institution.

Eduniversal offers to describe the best academic opportunities for students zone by zone, via a range of schools with different types of reputation and international ambitions, within the nine zones listed below:

According to the Eduniversal company, the international reputation is the capacity of a Business School to increase the prestige of a student – and therefore improve his employment prospects – in his country of study and on the international stage.

In order to execute the official selection, each country and each continent is represented according to a quota method. The number of schools per country is therefore weighted by quantitative and qualitative criteria.

The quantitative criteria:

The qualitative criterion:

the educational environment in the country (established, among other things, according to the number of secondary education academic institutions in the country, as well as a historical importance of the national educational tradition). The results can therefore be expressed in the following way:

Country National Expenditure on Education per inhabitant GDP per inhabitant Population size in Millions No. of students in Higher Education Qualitative Criterion Schools Quota Results
Tunisia $605.10 $8,898 9,815,644 26,435 - 4 Schools
Poland $773.80 $14,880 38,625,478 447,785 - 12 Schools
Indonesia $64.80 $4,323 245,452,739 552,660 - 7 Schools
Mexico $495 $11,249 107,449,525 339,450 - 17 Schools
Netherlands $1,683.70 $35,078 16,318,199 89,341 - 13 Schools

The official selection is made by the International Scientific Committee composed of 9 members coming from the nine geographic zones listed above.

The 9 expert members are all well-known academics in their respective zone.

The International Scientific Committee[5] meets:

The Palmes

The EDUNIVERSAL Palmes indicate the level of an academic institution's international reputation. They are awarded on the basis of the research work carried out by the International Scientific Committee, which compiles the list of criteria, together with the assessments made by peers: The Deans vote

They help the student to make his choice within the Official Selection and rate the reputation of the school or university within the country, its geographical zone, or even at the global level.

The Palmes[6] are divided into a league system, which allows horizontal intercontinental comparison, different from the vertical comparison made by most of the international classification systems.

This segmentation is presented as a normal probability curve:

The classification by Palmes is made using two essential elements: the internationalisation criteria and the Deans vote.

The Internalisation criteria:

The Deans vote:[7]

Each Dean from the universities and schools on the list of 1,000 can vote to recommend the other academic institutions. This vote is converted into a recommendation rate that the student can use to evaluate each academic institution and compare them.

These recommendations give another reply to the question: "Out of the following schools, which ones would you most recommend to a person who wants to study in this country?"

The Ratings

The Deans vote is one of the main characteristics of Eduniversal. The Schools and Universities in the official selection are therefore subjected to the assessment of their academic peers throughout the world.

In each country or zone, the 1,000 Deans or Directors of each academic institution give their opinion concerning the schools in the selection. The vote is not mandatory for each country, and they can only recommend 50% of the academic institutions selected. This vote is treated with utmost confidentiality and all ranking and rating results are filed with a bailiff until their public release.

Influence of votes on the future official selections and future annual Palme awards

1. Taking the results of votes into account in the marking that leads to the award of Palmes:

The results of the votes made in the years following the publication of the Official Selection will be weighted and will have a direct influence on the classification of the schools each year.

2. Case of a complete absence of votes that can lead to exclusion from the list every four years:

If an academic institution has received no votes for classification during the four year Official Selection period, it may be penalised, or even lose its place in the selection.

3. Case of an insufficient number of votes to maintain its level in its league:

In the event that a school, last in its league, receives a very small number of votes, compared with other universities in the same league, the Scientific Committee must consider relegating it, particularly in the two following circumstances:

4. Case of a number of votes far exceeding those in its league:

In the event that a school, first in its league, receives a very large number of votes compared to the other universities in its league, and if it places a request file for promotion to the league above, the scientific committee must consider its promotion to the league above, especially in the following two circumstances:

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Presentation of the Eduniversal Company on a TV program, Télématin on a French Channel, France 2 - 26th of June 2008.
  2. ↑ http://www.trncinfo.com/TANITMADAIRESI/ARSIV2008/ENGLISHarcive/JANUARY/310108.htm, Gau and Emu selected amongst 1000 Business Schools of the world published on the 31 January 2008.
  3. ↑ http://www.cetqa.vnuhcm.edu.vn/en/main.php?p=detailview&catid=1&msgid=31&menungangid=3
  4. ↑ http://www.universityworldnews.com/index.php?page=Top_1000_BusSchools_2009, 2009 : The World's Top 1000 Business Schools, paragraph 6.
  5. ↑ http://www.universityworldnews.com/index.php?page=Top_1000_BusSchools_2009, International Selection Committee - last chapter.
  6. ↑ http://www.universityworldnews.com/index.php?page=Top_1000_BusSchools_2009, Chapter : Identifying the Best Business Schools, Awarding the Palmes
  7. ↑ http://vijaysrinivasan.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/iim-bangalore-ranked-among-27-best-b-schools-in-the-world-1-in-india/