This presentation looks at the methodologies of five international bodies that rates higher institutions across the world with the aim of providing a guiding framework for ranking Nigerian institutions.

1. A Framework
for Ranking Higher
Institutions in Nigeria
StatiSense

2. The Higher Education System in Nigeria is regulated by three Agencies
under the Ministry of Education. These Agencies are saddled with
regulatory oversight such as:
 Granting approval for the establishment of institutions
 Granting approval for all academic programmes
 Establishing minimum standards for academic programmes
 Accrediting programmes offered by institutions
 Ensuring quality assurance of all academic programmes
 Channel for external support to institutions
Beside these functions, these Agencies should be able to provide to the
general public a measure that shows the performance of our higher
institutions against set criteria.
As of today, Nigerian Students and their Parents/Sponsors depend on
some external rankings of Nigerian Institutions in order to make decision
as regard which institution is the Best.
Introduction
This presentation looks at the methodologies of five international bodies
that rates higher institutions across the world with the aim of providing a
guiding framework for ranking Nigerian institutions.

3. National Universities Commission (NUC) | National Board For Technical Education (NBTE) | National Commission For
College Education (NCCE) | Innovation Enterprise Institutions | Vocational Enterprise Institutions
NUC NBTE NCCE
Universities Colleges of
Education
Polytechnics
Monotechnics
Health Technology
IEI
VEI
Technical Colleges
Ministry of Education
Nigerian Higher Institutions & Their Regulators

4. Five International Rating Organizations
The five organizations whose rating methodologies are being
used are:
1. Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)
2. Center for World University Rankings (CWUR)
3. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings
4. Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings
5. Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (Webometrics)

5. ARWU Methodology
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is conducted by
researchers at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao
Tong University (CWCU).
RANKING METHODOLOGY
CRITERIA INDICATOR CODE WEIGHT
Quality of Education
Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and
Fields Medals
Alumni 10%
Quality of Faculty
Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields
Medals
Award 20%
Highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject
categories
HiCi 20%
Research Output
Papers published in Nature and Science* N&S 20%
Papers indexed in Science Citation Index-expanded
and Social Science Citation Index
PUB 20%
Per Capita Performance Per capita academic performance of an institution PCP 10%
* For institutions specialized in humanities and social sciences such as London School of Economics, N&S is not
considered, and the weight of N&S is relocated to other indicators.

6. ARWU: Definition of Indicators
INDICATOR DEFINITION
Alumni
The total number of the alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields
Medals. Alumni are defined as those who obtain bachelor, Master's or doctoral
degrees from the institution.
Award
The total number of the staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes in Physics,
Chemistry, Medicine and Economics and Fields Medal in Mathematics.
HiCi The number of Highly Cited Researchers selected by Thomson Reuters.
N&S The number of papers published in Nature and Science between 2009 and 2013.
PUB
Total number of papers indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social
Science Citation Index in 2013.
PCP
The weighted scores of the above five indicators divided by the number of full-time
equivalent academic staff.
Data Sources –
Source
http://nobelprize.org/ http://www.webofknowledge.com/
http://www.mathunion.org/ http://www.webofknowledge.com/
http://www.highlycited.com/

7. CWRU Methodology
The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) publishes the only
global university ranking that measures the quality of education and
training of students as well as the prestige of the faculty members and
the quality of their research without relying on surveys and university
data submissions.
RANKING METHODOLOGY
INDICATOR DEFINITION WEIGHT
Quality of Education
Measured by the number of a university's alumni who have won major
international awards, prizes, and medals relative to the university's size
25%
Alumni Employment
Measured by the number of a university's alumni who have held CEO
positions at the world's top companies relative to the university's size
25%
Quality of Faculty
Measured by the number of academics who have won major
international awards, prizes, and medals.
25%
Publications
Measured by the number of research papers appearing in reputable
journals
5%
Influence
Measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-
influential journals
5%
Citations Measured by the number of highly-cited research papers 5%
Broad Impact Measured by the university's h-index 5%
Patents Measured by the number of international patent filings 5%

8. Quacquarelli Symonds Methodology
The primary aim of the QS World University Rankings is to help students
make informed comparisons of leading universities around the world.
Based on six performance indicators, the rankings are designed to
assess universities in four areas: research, teaching, employability and
internationalization.
RANKING METHODOLOGY
INDICATOR DEFINITION WEIGHT
Academic
reputation
Academic reputation is measured using a global survey, in which
academics are asked to identify the institutions where they believe the
best work is currently taking place within their own field of expertise.
40%
Employer reputation
The survey asks employers to identify the universities they perceive to be
producing the best graduates.
10%
Student-to-faculty
ratio
Measure of the number of academic staff employed relative to the
number of students enrolled.
20%
Citations per faculty
This indicator aims to assess universities’ research impact. A ‘citation’
means a piece of research being cited (referred to) within another piece
of research.
20%
International faculty
ratio Aim to assess how successful a university has been in attracting students
and academics from other nations.
5%
international student
ratio
5%

9. QS: Assessment Areas
RESEARCH
Indicators considered
here include assessments of
research quality amongst
academics, and awards
TEACHING
A key role of a university is
the nurture of tomorrow's
finest minds, inspiring the
next generation of
potential research
academics.
EMPLOYABILITY
Graduate employability
encompasses more than
academic strength,
focusing on ‘work-
readiness’
INTERNATIONALIZATION
proportion of international
students and staff, nos. of
exchange students arriving
and departing, no. of
nationalities represented in
the student body, etc.
Facilities
University infrastructure is an indicator which enables students to know what to
expect from their university experience.
Online/Distance learning
student services and technology, track record, student faculty engagement,
student interaction, commitment to online and reputation of the university.
Social Responsibility
Engagement measures how seriously a university takes its obligations to society
by investing in the local community as well as in charity work and disaster relief.
Innovation
Innovation, the output of the universities activities and findings to economy,
society and culture, has become increasingly relevant for universities.
Arts & Culture
Effective indicators are the number of concerts and exhibitions organized by the
institution, the number of credits and cultural awards and cultural investment.
Inclusiveness
The accessibility of the university to students, particularly at scholarships and
bursaries, disability access, gender balance and low-income outreach.
Specialist Criteria This category looks at accreditations and discipline rankings.

10. THE Methodology
The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings are the only
global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities
across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer
and international outlook.
RANKING METHODOLOGY
INDICATOR DEFINITION WEIGHT
Teaching The learning environment 30%
Research Volume, income and reputation 30%
Citation Research influence 30%
International Outlook Staff, students and research 7.5%
Industry Income Knowledge transfer 2.5%
THE use 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the
most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students,
academics, university leaders, industry and even governments.

11. THE Methodology
CRITERIA INDICATOR WEIGHT
Teaching (the learning
environment)
Reputation survey 15%
Staff-to-student ratio 4.5%
Doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio 2.25%
Doctorates awarded-to-academic staff ratio 6%
Institutional income 2.25%
Research (volume,
income and reputation)
Reputation survey 18%
Research Income 6%
Research productivity 6%
Citation Research influence 30%
International Outlook
((staff, students,
research)
International-to-domestic-student ratio 2.5%
International-to-domestic-staff ratio 2.5%
International collaboration 2.5%
Industry Income Knowledge transfer 2.5%

12. Webometrics Methodology
Webometrics is the largest academic ranking of Higher Education
Institutions. Since 2004 and every six months an independent, objective,
free, open scientific exercise is performed by the Cybermetrics Lab
(Spanish National Research Council, CSIC) for the providing reliable,
multidimensional, updated and useful information about the
performance of universities from all over the world based on their web
presence and impact.
RANKING METHODOLOGY
CRITERIA INDICATOR WEIGHT
Visibility Impact 50%
Activity
Presence (1/3)
50%Openness (1/3)
Excellence (1/3)

13. Webometrics Methodology
INDICATOR DEFINITION
Impact
The quality of the contents is evaluated through a "virtual referendum",
counting all the external inlinks that the University webdomain receives
from third parties. Those links are recognizing the institutional prestige,
the academic performance, the value of the information, and the
usefulness of the services as introduced in the webpages according to
the criteria of millions of web editors from all over the world.
Presence (1/3)
The total number of webpages hosted in the main webdomain
(including all the subdomains and directories) of the university as
indexed by the largest commercial search engine (Google).
Openness (1/3)
The global effort to set up institutional research repositories is explicitly
recognized in this indicator that takes into account the number of rich
files (pdf, doc, docx, ppt) published in dedicated websites according to
the academic search engine Google Scholar.
Excellence (1/3)
The academic papers published in high impact international journals
are playing a very important role in the ranking of Universities.

14. ARWU CWUR QS THE Webometrics
Alumni Quality of Education Academic reputation Reputation survey Impact
Award Alumni Employment Employer reputation Staff-to-student ratio Presence (1/3)
HiCi Quality of Faculty Student-to-faculty ratio Doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio Openness (1/3)
N&S Publications Citations per faculty
Doctorates awarded-to-
academic staff ratio
Excellence (1/3)
PUB Influence International faculty ratio Institutional income
PCP Citations International student ratio Reputation survey
Broad Impact Research Income
Patents Research productivity
Research influence
International-to-domestic-student
ratio
International-to-domestic-staff
ratio
International collaboration
Knowledge transfer
Summary of Methodologies
These are the Indicators by which World Universities are being ranked.
There are some similarities in Indicators across different ranking
institutions; however, there are some common indicators among them.

15. The Nigerian University Dilemma
Majority, if not all, of Nigerian Universities would not appear on the
radar if measured on these Indicators, particularly on those Indicators
that looks at Publications in world journals, Alumni winning a Nobel
laureate, Patents, International Students and Faculties, etc.
This is evidenced through The Higher Education (THE) ranking of
Universities. THE started ranking Universities in 2011, not until this year
(2015) that a Nigerian University made the top 800 universities list. That
University is the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Precisely, the University of
Ibadan showed up at the 680th position.
In addition to this, Webometric, approaches university ranking in an
unconventional but 21st Century manner, using web presence and
impact as a major approach to ranking. In reality, most Nigerian
Universities would not be able to compete with the rest of the world on
these Indicators. Some do not have a website and those that manage
to register their presence online are packed with dead links and
outdated information.
Therefore, how can Nigerian Universities compete with the rest of the
World if the ranking Indicators are skewed in some unfavourable
directions? How can these Indicators be grouped better for ALL?

16. Grouping the Indicators
These ranking indicators can be grouped into some distinct factors that
characterizes top institutions:
Quality of Instruction
Quality of Faculty
Infrastructure
Publication
Alumni Award & Recognition
Employers Perspective
This therefore would allow institutions to be more creative in identifying
Indicators in each category that they can use to measure how well
they perform and equally compete with other institutions.

17. Ranking Nigerian Universities
The last rating of Nigerian Universities locally that I am aware of was in
2002. Since then, the Nigerian populace have depended on foreign
ratings, especially the five organizations considered in this presentation.
Who Should
Rate
Nigerian
Universities?
National Universities
Commission (NUC)
Concerned
Professionals
(Just like THE, ARWU, QS, etc.)
For the peculiar
challenge of
access to Data in
Nigeria, NUC is
the best bet
Personally, I do not think the inability of NUC
to provide this service to Nigerian Students
and other Stakeholders is about lack of
capacity or competence, it is that they have
not seen the need for such service.

18. 18
National Universities Commissions
 To lay down Minimum Academic Standards in the Federal Republic of
Nigeria and to accredit their degrees and other academic awards;
 To ensure that quality is maintained within the academic programmes
of the Nigerian University System;
 …to investigate and study the financial needs of university research and
to ensure that adequate provision is made for this in the universities;
 To undertake periodic reviews of the terms and conditions of service of
personnel engaged in the universities and to make recommendations
thereon to the Federal Government where appropriate;
 To act as the agency for channelling all external aid to the universities in
Nigeria;
The Functions of the
Commission are:
Let’s take a look at the NUC Operating Structure

19. National
Universities
Commission
Inspection &
Monitoring
Executive Secretary’s
Office
Quality Assurance
Research & Innovation
Open & Distance
Education
Protocol & Special
Duties
Physical Planning
Finance & Accounts
Information &
Communication Tech.
Student Support
Services
Management Support
Services
Academic Standards
Lagos Office
NUC Operating Structure
Outcome of activities from Divisions such as Inspection & Monitoring, Quality Assurance,
Academic Standards, etc., could serve as data that would assist in rating Nigerian Universities.

20. National
Universities
Commission
Inspection &
Monitoring
Quality Assurance
Research & Innovation
Open & Distance
Education
Student Support
Services
Academic Standards
Selected Divisions for Rating Universities

21. National
Universities
Commission
Selected Activities of Some Divisions
Inspection & Monitoring
 Monitors and evaluates all universities with focus on such areas as academic briefs
and master plan implementation, institutional management and governance, student
and staff numbers, staff quality and mix, teaching and research quality; infrastructural
input and other issues pertinent to quality assurance (quarterly).
 Monitors and inspects, from time to time, the certificates awarded to approved
programmes in order to maintain quality and standards (quarterly).
 Inspects facilities in the universities to determine their currency, the use of up-to-date
ICT facilities and the quality of the staff manning them (quarterly).
Quality Assurance
Obtaining annually, the list of approved Full-Time/Part-Time
Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Distance Learning academic
programmes from the Department of Academic Standards to
determine programmes that are mature for accreditation;
Open & Distance
Education
Promote, popularize and
coordinate, the deployment
of E-learning tools in the
delivery of university
education in Nigeria
Research &
Innovation
Collection and collation of
timely and up-to-date data on
Nigerian Universities for
dissemination to the general
public.
Student Support Services
 Encouraging universities to develop and deploy career development and
management initiatives that will help students develop critical lifelong learning
skills that will enable them make wise and intelligent decisions and choices of
careers.
 Facilitating and coordinating the emergence of Counselling and Human
Development Centres with well-developed resources in all Nigerian Universities.
Academic Standards
 Accreditation of degree programmes in Nigerian Universities;
 Ensuring compliance by universities with Postgraduate BMAS for the
various disciplines;
 Ensuring compliance by universities with the BMAS for the various
programmes;
 Conducting periodic Needs Assessment of Nigerian graduates at both local
and international markets;
 Monitoring the state and development of universities libraries;

22. 22
Quality of Instruction
Quality of Faculty
Infrastructure
Publication
Alumni Award & Recognition
Employers Perspective
Inspection &
Monitoring
Research & Innovation
Student Support
Services
Quality Assurance
Open & Distance
Education
Academic Standards
Mapping NUC Divisions to Rating Indicators
Clearly, the NUC can create a Ranking Methodology leveraging on the outcomes of the
activities of its different Divisions. This methodology would take into consideration our
environment as well as adapt other international indicators, where possible.

23. Inspection &
Monitoring
Research & Innovation
Student Support
Services
Quality Assurance
Open & Distance
Education
Academic Standards
Proposed Ranking Methodology
A proposed Ranking Methodology for Nigerian Universities
Nigerian Universities
Ranking Methodology
Student Survey UTME Performance
Employers’
Perspectives
Online Visibility

24. Reference –
National Universities Commissions
http://www.nuc.edu.ng/1
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)
http://www.shanghairanking.com/2
The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR)
http://www.cwur.org/3
Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings
http://www.topuniversities.com/4
The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings
https://www.timeshighereducation.com5
The "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities“
http://www.webometrics.info/6

25. Analysis by: Wale Micaiah
e: walegate@yahoo.com
m: 08078001800
w: www.statisense.com
Freely share, freely use and freely
acknowledge the source – © Wale Micaiah