Rui Yang Rui is a doctoral student in the School of Social and Policy Studies in Education at the University of Sydney. As an important part of the process of evaluating higher education, university ranking has grabbed increasing attention worldwide. From a global perspective, it parallels the development of higher education, and has long been practiced in economically advanced countries, such as Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Asian and Pacific countries, like Australia and Hong Kong, have followed suit.
University ranking can act as a catalyst for change, but can also be misleading.
Merits and faults aside, it is certainly very influential. Not only do people from all walks of life show great concern about results of the process, but it even exerts influence on the international reputation of the higher education system in a specific country, against a backdrop of globalization. As part of its reentry into the world community, China now conducts regular university ranking. Assessments conducted by the administrative organizations, however, are used as guidelines, are not made known to the public, and therefore, cannot provoke much public interest. Outcomes resulting from independent assessments, however, especially when made public through the media, are gaining increasing attention from the whole society, due to the close connection to universities' reputations.