On October 12, the British edition Times Higher Education (THE) published the results of the traditional international World University Rankings. Along with QS and Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, this edition is one of the three most reputable agencies, whose recognition is considered an undoubted indicator of an educational institution’s success. For the first time, the list includes a university from Penza - Penza State University.

As follows from the agency’s report, which precedes the 2023 rating, more than 2.5 thousand applications from universities were submitted in total. Of these, 1799 best universities from 104 countries were selected, including 76 Russian universities.
Among Russian universities, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University got the best mark and took the overall 163rd place. In addition to Moscow State University, the general list also includes Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (201st–250th positions), Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (301st–350th), National Research University – Higher School of Economics, and Bauman Moscow State Technical University, both ranked in the range of 401–450.

Penza State University is listed in the ranking line 1501+. Among Russian higher educational institutions, this corresponds to 42nd –76th positions. This is the first entry of the Penza university into the authoritative world ranking.

University of Oxford (Great Britain) topped the ranking. In the second place is Harvard University (USA). The third place was shared by the University of Cambridge (Great Britain) and Stanford University (USA).

THE World University Rankings has been published annually by Times Higher Education magazine since 2004. At first it was issued under the combined THE-QS brand, since 2010 THE and QS ratings have been published independently.

To date, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings is considered to be one of the three most respected international rankings. It is a tool for comparing higher education institutions according to a certain approved set of indicators. Potential applicants and their parents use the Times Higher Education ranking as the most reliable source of information when choosing a university, while professors, industry experts and government organizations use data on the position of a particular university in the international rankings to make decisions about cooperation.

To ensure the most complete and balanced comparison, the ranking uses 13 performance indicators grouped in five areas:
Education (educational environment, university income);
Research work (reputation, research income, number of published scientific articles);
Citation (popularity of university publications among specialists of the relevant study field);
Internationalization (international students, teachers, international cooperation);
Raising funds from industry (income from research for the real sector of the economy).

The coverage of universities included in the ranking is expanding every year. THE World University Rankings 2023 includes 1799 universities, whereas last year there were 1662 universities in the ranking, two years ago there were 1527, and three years ago - 1397.