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NIU named to list of top universities worldwide

November 9, 2020

Northern Illinois University has been selected for inclusion on U.S. News & World Report’s list of Best Global Universities for 2021. NIU is one of only 10 institutions selected from the state of Illinois.

According to U.S. News, the seventh annual rankings focus specifically on academic research and overall reputation of schools, rather than separating undergraduate or graduate programs. The rankings were created to help students more accurately compare institutions around the world. Nearly 1,500 institutions across 86 countries were ranked.

The rankings focus closely on research output and productivity, with 25% of the score based on global and regional research reputation and an additional 10% on the number of publications accepted in the past year. The reputation score was based on Clarivate Analytics’ Academic Reputation Survey, which asks academics around the world to give their views of programs in their disciplines regarding both the research and teaching reputations of institutions.

In addition to NIU, other Illinois institutions of higher education on the list include the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, Rush University and Illinois State University.

“We are gratified to be recognized among a prestigious group of research universities, and are particularly gratified that our physics program achieved an individual program ranking,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Beth Ingram. “This is a testament to the hard work and creative energy that our faculty devote to their scholarship and artistic endeavors.”