Universities and colleges are ranked on a number of different elements; some are more objective than others (such as statistical information).  College and university rankings are used in a number of ways, least of which is the prestige of those schools that hold top positions.  Different ranking systems measure different statistics and facts, and these ranks are used for evaluating a variety of elements at each school such as academic success and administrative efficiency. 

One of the ranking systems, Webmetrics Ranking of World Universities, is devoted to ranking schools based on the academic and research element.  Newsweek publishes the Top 100 Global Universities.  These ranks are compiled from information such as the number of researchers, articles, the percentage of international faculty and students, ratio of faculty to students and the number of library holdings. 

Yet another ranking system, the Mines ParisTech Professional Ranking of World Universities which bases its rankings on the status of graduates within a certain time period after their completion of studies, such as salary, senior managerial positions occupied and new companies started by graduates of any given school.  There are a variety of school ranking systems, but only when several are considered together can one truly get a sense for what the ranking of a school ought to be, as they all consider different criteria.

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