In its 2014 World Reputation Rankings, the British publication Times Higher Education (THE) rated Yonsei as one of the top ninety universities in the world. (Yonsei was listed alongside institutions like Brown University in the “81-90” category.) By reputation, then, Yonsei is the top private university in Asia and one of the twenty best private institutions worldwide. Overall, the top three universities in THE’s reputation rankings were Harvard, MIT, and Stanford, followed by Cambridge and Oxford.
A spin-off of the THE World University Rankings, the World Reputation Rankings are more subjective, in that they are based solely on the opinions of senior, well-published academics from around the world—this year, THE surveyed 10,536 academics from 133 different countries. Essentially, these rankings are intended to provide a list of the 100 most powerful global university brands. The results of the World Reputation Rankings were welcome news for Yonsei, which was ranked 190th in the THE 2013-2014 World University Rankings.
As a private university receiving limited funds from the government and private donors, Yonsei’s growing international prestige, according to university officials, can be explained by its commitment to providing an innovative educational environment and establishing global networks with elite schools from around the world. In addition to its Residential College (RC) program, Yonsei is a founding member of the G10 Consortium, which includes universities like Cornell, Princeton, and King’s College London, and it recently joined the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). Yonsei is also in talks with Oxford about operating a joint summer program.