Cada año se publica a nivel internacional, una serie de series de Ranking Mundial de Universidades.

Uno de los mas prestigiosos y reconocidos es el que publica anualmente la Universidad de Shangaicon las 500 mejores instituciones de educacion superior.

La hegemonia de Estados Unidos es importante y en general de los paises del primer mundo.

Dos Universidades Chilenas logran estar en este prestigioso ranking: La Universidad Catolica de Chile y la Universidad de Chile.

A continuacion un extracto de este listado con las mejores 72 Universidades del Mundo:

Academic Ranking of World Universities - 2011

Fuente: http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2011.html

World Rank	Institution	Country	National Rank	Total Score	Score on
1	Harvard University		1	100.0	100.0
2	Stanford University		2	72.6	41.2
3	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)		3	72.0	72.8
4	University of California, Berkeley		4	71.9	68.3
5	University of Cambridge		1	70.0	87.1
6	California Institute of Technology		5	64.7	52.6
7	Princeton University		6	61.2	56.7
8	Columbia University		7	60.4	69.6
9	University of Chicago		8	57.5	65.0
10	University of Oxford		2	56.4	55.5
11	Yale University		9	54.8	49.6
12	University of California, Los Angeles		10	53.0	30.0
13	Cornell University		11	51.5	42.0
14	University of Pennsylvania		12	50.4	36.3
15	University of California, San Diego		13	49.5	15.6
16	University of Washington		14	48.8	24.3
17	University of California, San Francisco		15	46.7	0.0
18	The Johns Hopkins University		16	45.9	43.2
19	University of Wisconsin - Madison		17	45.6	35.3
20	University College London		3	44.8	32.2
21	The University of Tokyo		1	44.6	35.3
22	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor		18	44.1	36.7
23	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich		1	43.2	33.8
24	The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine		4	42.6	16.6
25	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign		19	42.5	34.3
26	University of Toronto		1	41.9	22.8
27	Kyoto University		2	41.2	33.8
28	University of Minnesota, Twin Cities		20	40.8	30.0
29	New York University		21	38.8	32.2
30	Northwestern University		22	38.7	17.6
31	Washington University in St. Louis		23	38.1	21.2
32	University of Colorado at Boulder		24	37.2	14.4
33	Rockefeller University		25	37.1	19.5
33	University of California, Santa Barbara		25	37.1	16.6
35	Duke University		27	35.1	17.6
35	The University of Texas at Austin		27	35.1	18.6
37	University of British Columbia		2	34.9	17.6
38	The University of Manchester		5	34.8	21.2
38	University of Maryland, College Park		29	34.8	22.0
40	University of Paris Sud (Paris 11)		1	34.6	32.2
41	Pierre and Marie Curie University - Paris 6		2	34.3	35.4
42	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill		30	34.0	10.2
43	University of Copenhagen		1	33.7	25.0
44	Karolinska Institute		1	33.5	25.6
45	Pennsylvania State University - University Park		31	32.1	11.8
46	University of Southern California		32	32.0	0.0
47	Technical University Munich		1	31.8	39.9
48	University of California, Davis		33	31.7	0.0
48	University of California, Irvine		33	31.7	0.0
48	Utrecht University		1	31.7	26.3
51	The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas		35	31.6	21.2
52	Vanderbilt University		36	31.3	17.6
53	The University of Edinburgh		6	31.2	23.5
54	University of Munich		2	30.9	29.4
55	Carnegie Mellon University		37	30.6	36.3
56	University of Zurich		2	30.5	5.9
57	The Hebrew University of Jerusalem		1	30.3	36.7
57	University of Pittsburgh		38	30.3	21.2
59	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick		39	30.1	11.8
60	University of Melbourne		1	30.0	19.5
61	Purdue University - West Lafayette		40	29.9	15.6
62	University of Heidelberg		3	29.6	15.6
63	The Ohio State University - Columbus		41	29.5	14.4
64	McGill University		3	29.4	31.1
65	Brown University		42	29.2	16.6
65	Leiden University		2	29.2	20.4
67	Uppsala University		2	29.0	20.4
68	King's College London		7	28.9	14.4
69	Ecole Normale Superieure - Paris		3	28.7	54.2
70	The Australian National University		2	28.6	15.6
70	University of Bristol		8	28.6	8.3
72	University of Florida		43	28.4	19.5