The world of college admissions is ever-changing and for students with top university ambitions, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest developments. This week, Times Higher Education released its Impact Rankings 2023 and Western Sydney University in Australia has topped the list. Check back next week to see what’s new and noteworthy in university admissions!

Western Sydney University tops Impact Rankings 2023

Western Sydney University in Australia has topped the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023. The rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. For the 17 goals, universities are assessed across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching. This year’s rankings include 1,591 universities from 112 countries/regions. Australian and Canadian institutions ruled the top spots on the list.

The overall ranking is led by Australia’s Western Sydney University for the second year in a row. The UK’s University of Manchester follows in second place, while Canada-based Queen’s University takes the third spot. The top institution from an emerging economy is Universiti Sains Malaysia, ranking at fourth. The UK is the most-represented nation in the top 100 with 26 institutions, followed by Australia with 16 and Canada with 15.

University of Tasmania, Arizona State University (Tempe), University of Alberta in Canada, RMIT University in Australia, Aalborg University in Denmark and Canada’s University of Victoria rounded out the top 10. 

Besides the overall rankings, the universities are ranked for their commitment towards each individual goal as well. For eg., Universiti Sains Malaysia ranked first for research on ­poverty and their support for poor students and citizens in the local community. For gender equality, Western Sydney topped the list. Germany’s University Erlangen-Nuremberg, University of Stuttgart and Technical University of Munich topped the Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure list along with Norway’s University of Twente. 

The Quality Education ranking focuses on universities’ contribution to early years and lifelong learning, their research on quality education and their commitment to inclusive education. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana topped the list, followed by Aalborg University of Denmark and Hong Kong’s Lingnan University, Hong Kong Baptist University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The Impact Rankings are a way for universities to display their rapid improvement in certain areas by providing evidence of improvement and announcing new policies. This is the fifth year the rankings have been released.

Other top stories in admissions news this week:

1. The Common App will let colleges hide students' self-reported race and ethnicity data from admissions officials starting in August, the New York Times has reported. The change comes ahead of a widely anticipated Supreme Court ruling that could restrict or even ban affirmative action, and Common App officials say it will help schools comply "with whatever legal standard the Supreme Court will set in regards to race in admissions." It could also help insulate them during lawsuits over admissions decisions, which are expected to increase after justices weigh in. Colleges using the Common App are already given the option to hide test scores, birth dates, gender and criminal history.
2. Private school applications to the University of Oxford have fallen to the lowest level in decades amid a surge in competition from state schools, the Telegraph has reported. The number of private school pupils applying to the world-leading university fell by 6 per cent to 3,855 for the current academic year – the lowest number since 2001. Meanwhile, applications from state school pupils in 2022 hit a record high of 9,965, up 4 per cent on the previous year, according to admissions statistics released by the university.
3. The pandemic’s damage to US colleges’ revenue streams was sizable and quantifiable: nearly $13 billion in 2021, according to annual reports filed with the Department of Education. Some categories of revenue loss overlapped, and the self-reported claims may have been larger than the actual losses that the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or Heerf, helped colleges to recover, the Chronicle of Higher Education has reported.
4. Common App announced its first group of new members for the upcoming application season. Students applying to college in 2023-2024 will soon have access to 29 additional colleges and universities, with more colleges and universities to be announced in August. The platform is currently used by more than three million applicants, teachers, and counselors every year. Some of the new institutions include Rutgers in New Jersey, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Dublin City University in Ireland, Morehead State University in Kentucky, and Northern Michigan University, among others.