Moscow State University (MGU) was ranked 25th in the latest World Reputation Ranking of the world’s leading universities. It is the highest position ever held by a Russian university in the rankings. Last year, MGU was ranked in the 60s.

Source: Sergey Sergeev / RIA Novosti

Moscow State University (MGU) was ranked 25th in the latest World Reputation Ranking of the world’s leading universities. It is the highest position ever held by a Russian university in the rankings. Last year, MGU was ranked in the 60s.

St. Petersburg State University (SPGU) also made the list for the first time, as part of the group of universities ranked between 71-80.

"For Russia, this is a good year in terms of reputational rankings because MGU climbed to 25th place, while another university entered the rankings,” said World Reputation Rankings editor Phil Betty. “A good reputation in the world is very important because it helps universities and Russia as a whole to attract and retain talented people. But Russia, too, must be vigilant: there is a gaping chasm between these beautiful reputational data and stiff objective methodology of the rating of the world's best universities. Russia needs a lot of work on the protection of their global brands to make them competitive on the world stage.”

This year, as in 2014, the top-ranked university in the world is Harvard Unversity. Second and third place are taken by Cambridge University and Oxford University in the UK.

The list, which is compiled by Times Higher Education and Thomson Reuters, involves the opinions of more than 10,000 education experts in 140 countries. The 2015 ranking was released March 12.

First published in Russian at RIA Novosti.





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