Webometrics’ 2015 Top 20 African Diaspora Colleges & Universities

HBCU Money™ presents the 3rd annual top 20 ranked African Diaspora colleges and universities. The rankings are based on the world rankings from Webometrics, an initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• 11 of the 20 colleges and universities come from South Africa. An increase from 10 in 2014.
• There are 4 new schools in the top 20 this year. A decline from 6 schools the previous year.
• African American colleges & universities (HBCUs) increased their presence back to 4 of the 20 colleges and universities present on the list after having only 2 in 2014. Howard University makes the leap into the top ten moving from 16 to 7 on the list.
• The top ranked African Diaspora college/university in 2015 is up 18 places from top ranked African Diaspora college/university in 2014.
• No African Diaspora colleges or universities are present in the top 100 in Webometrics’ world rankings.

Below are the objective and methodology per the Webometrics website:

Objective: The original aim of the Ranking was to promote Web publication. Supporting Open Access initiatives, electronic access to scientific publications and to other academic material are our primary targets. However web indicators are very useful for ranking purposes too as they are not based on number of visits or page design but on the global performance and visibility of the universities.

Methodology: The Webometrics is the largest academic ranking of Higher Education Institutions. Since 2004 and every six months an independent, objective, free, open scientific exercise is performed by the Cybermetrics Lab (Spanish National Research Council, CSIC) for the providing reliable, multidimensional, updated and useful information about the performance of universities from all over the world based on their web presence and impact.

INSTITUTION – WORLD RANK (2014 RANKING) – COUNTRY

1. University of Cape Town – 332 (350) – South Africa
2. Stellenbosch University – 475 (439) – South Africa
3. University of the Witwatersrand – 524 (580) – South Africa
4. University of Pretoria – 541 (444) – South Africa
5. Cairo University – 574 (358) – Egypt
6. University of Kwazulu Natal – 710 (752) – South Africa
7. Howard University – 868 (1231) – United States
8. University of the Western Cape – 1011 (789) – South Africa
9. Mansoura University – 1070 (911) – Egypt
10. University of Johannesburg – 1136 (1204) – South Africa
11. Makerere University – 1215 (1134) – Uganda
12. Rhodes University – 1218 (968) – South Africa
13. North West University – 1229 (1430) – South Africa
14. University of South Africa – 1254 (1058) – South Africa
15. Alexandria University – 1268 (1223) – Egypt
16. Hampton University – 1565 (N/A) – United States
17. Florida A&M University – 1632 (1632) – United States
18. Assiut University – 1660 (N/A) – Egypt
19. University of the Free State – 1679 (N/A) – South Africa
20. Jackson State University – 1679 (N/A) – United States