{
  "id": 7730547,
  "title": "Employability, social impact reshape global university rankings",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/employability-social-impact-reshape-global-university-rankings",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T07:22:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/education/20260916/employability-social-impact-reshape-global-university-rankings"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Global university rankings are undergoing a transformation, moving away from traditional measures of academic prowess to prioritize factors such as graduate employability and societal contribution in an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries. Despite this shift, smaller and emerging institutions continue to grapple with the task of maintaining high performance in traditional ranking metrics while simultaneously highlighting their unique strengths.\n\nThe changes in the ranking criteria have been highlighted by the leaders of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE), two prominent global ranking organizations. QS has amplified its focus on graduate employability, which now constitutes 20 percent of its World University Rankings. The organization is actively refining its methodology to better gauge how universities prepare students for the evolving job market.\n\nSimilarly, THE has begun emphasizing universities' sustainability efforts and broader social impact as critical components of their evaluation process. These organizations announced these changes during special sessions convened following the 2026 Korea Times Global Conference, where they also examined the strengths and weaknesses of Korean universities in this new landscape.",
  "summary": "Global university rankings are looking beyond traditional measures of academic excellence, placing greater emphasis on how universities prepare students for a changing job market and contribute to society as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes workplaces. But emerging and regional universities still face the challenge of balancing performance on common ranking criteria with efforts to develop…",
  "key_points": [
    "Employability now accounts for 20% of QS World University Rankings",
    "Times Higher Education highlights sustainability and social impact",
    "Changes discussed at 2026 Korea Times Global Conference"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Universities are now being judged more on their ability to prepare job-ready graduates and contribute to society, a shift that could favor institutions adapting quickly to changing market needs.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Employability, social impact reshape global university rankings",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/employability-social-impact-reshape-global-university-rankings-7732628",
        "published": "2026-09-16T07:32:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}