Tomorrow's Professor just forwarded a list of the top 500 universities in the world. As the introduction says

Attempting to rank universities world-wide is no easy task [which is why very few organizations have tried to do it] and it is easy enough to take exception to the various criteria used. That said, here is a list of the top 500 universities in the world by rank as determined in a study from the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. A much more detailed description of the criteria used, rankings by geographic area, FAQ's and the questionnaire itself can be found at: http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2004/2004Main.htm

My almae materi did well, so I'm not quibbling (HNN host George Mason was in the 200s, too, probably thanks to its extraordinary history programs and vision), though the methodology is heavily weighted towards technical and scientific achievement. But what I did think was interesting was a quick-and-dirty breakdown I did (my nerd score was 50; my geek score is much higher) by country:

• USA, 170
• Germany, 43 ; UK, 42 ; Japan, 36
• Canada, 23 ; Italy, 23 ; France, 22
• Australia, 14 ; Netherlands, 12 ; Sweden, 10 ; Spain, 9
• 8: China, South Korea, Switzerland,
• 7: Belgium, Israel
• 5: Austria, Hong Kong, Denmark, Finland
• 4: Brazil, Norway, South Africa
• 3: Taiwan, Hungary, India, Ireland, New Zealand
• 2: Greece, Poland, Russia, Singapore
• 1: Argentina, Chile, Czech, Mexico, Portugal

A true uber-geek would weight these numbers by GNP and population. But you can get a really good rough idea of what's going on anyway. A few thoughts, in no particular order

• There's a pretty good correlation between GDP per capita and education. Not perfect, unless you correct for natural resource extraction income....
• What's missing? Natural Resource Extraction (i.e. oil) economies, with a very few exceptions (US, Mexico, Russia) which clearly have more mixed and developed economies on top of those natural resources. This overlaps with the Arab and Muslim worlds, neither of which are represented on this list at all.
• Legacies of the past: Italy's high ranking has got to be a legacy of the Renaissance. And the British Empire (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa) is very well represented.
• Signs of the Future: South Korea, which ranks with Israel as the youngest nation to rank so high on the list. If they're this good already, what are they going to do in the future? Japan's good showing has a great deal to do with post-WWII education reforms as well. And on a per-capita basis, don't count out the smaller Euro-economies (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden) which could easily be high-quality innovators or exporters of valued expertise.
• Signs of the future II: on a per-capita basis, Russia and China are grossly underrepresented, and that will clearly be a drag on their development. Except, of course, that China's students are getting top-flight educations overseas -- mostly in Japan, Germany and the US -- and there's a very high return rate for Chinese students. The same may well be true for the Arab/Muslim spheres, though it's harder to tell about either overseas study rates or return rates. Russia, on the other hand....
• Signs of the present: US higher education is in an extraordinary position, one of its most valuable industries, and most profitable and high-return exports. Whatever our problems -- and they are real -- we clearly participate in one of the most dynamic and interesting educational cultures in the world.

Any other thoughts?