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    No, they are not old, not even close. topuniversities.com/blog/10-oldest-universities-world But yes, they do welcome the best of the best.
    – Stephan Branczyk
    Commented Oct 9, 2015 at 23:33
  • 97
    Surprised nobody has yet mentioned that most rankings originated from the US, which inspired several other closely related rankings (e.g. the Shanghai ranking defines Harvard U to be rank 1). University rankings are mainly a PR game, so obviously the (mostly American) universities that produce them end up on top, or the rankings wouldn't be made in the first place. This is not to say that these rankings are total BS, but please don't overestimate their relevance.
    – Marc Claesen
    Commented Oct 10, 2015 at 1:23
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    @Mico No, if true, Marc's comment is 100% relevant. The question is "Why do American universities do so well in the rankings?" and, if true, Marc's comment answers that.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Oct 10, 2015 at 8:17
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    One contributing factor that I have not yet seen in an answer: In the US there is a clear concept of a "top university" and an inter-university ranking. At least in some other countries this might not be the case. I'm thinking especially of Germany where this is much less pronounced and people can be hard-pressed to even name a university that is distinctly above others. Thus reputation, funding and concentration of top academics tend to be more spread out. There is a government initiative in Germany that tries to establish "elite universities", but it will take time to show an effect.
    – Emil
    Commented Oct 10, 2015 at 8:58
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    @Mico: I think Marc's comments directly address both questions. "Why are most of the top universities American?" -> "Because the rankings that bring them to top were designed to bring them to top."; "What is special about American higher education?" -> "As opposed to other higher education systems, the American higher education system is the one that was defined to be the ideal form when designing the rankings." (Not saying that this is entirely true, and I'd like to see some references for the claims, but nonetheless I see the claims as direct answers to both forms of the question.)
    – O. R. Mapper
    Commented Oct 10, 2015 at 9:08