A study of the criteria and indicators of the National University Ranking Systems

 The purpose of the current study was to provide a comprehensive perspective of the criteria and indicators available in the National University Ranking Systems of the countries in the world.

The current study is descriptive research, and more specifically, a scientometric study based on a quantitative approach and library method. The study population comprised 27 countries of the National University Ranking Systems. The sampling method was a criterion-based purposive sampling, from which data were gathered and analyzed in Microsoft EXCEL, using the descriptive statistical methods.

The research findings showed that the criteria including education, students, financial factors, alumni, research, and faculty members were presented in more than half of the National University Rankings. Moreover, it was reported that the International Student Ratio, the quality of university campus, average scores of admitted students, scholarships, bursaries and grants for student, student exchanges, and Student-Staff Ratio were the top five research indicators. Conclustion: Last but not least, the results showed that in the National University Rankings, among the main functions of the universities, two factors of education and research have been more salient.