Getting Started
The following sources can be helpful when identifying and investigating institutions abroad for your research. Once you identify institutions, often the best source of information are their websites.
Directories of Institutions
Use these directories to search for universities, research institutions and non-governmental organizations in countries around the world.
- Europa World of Learning This link opens in a new windowSearch for 30,000 academic institutions worldwide, including over 400 cultural, scientific, and educational organizations.
- World Higher Education DatabaseDirectory from UNESCO listing higher education institutions around the world.
- Yearbook of International Organizations This link opens in a new windowLocal NGOs can be excellent sources of support for helping you navigate some of the logistics of field work abroad, whether it's engaging local translators, or facilitating access to particular groups.
Rankings
College and university rankings can provide an insight on the prestige of an institution. However, rankings are proprietary and organizations are not always transparent on how they are decided.
- Times Higher Education World University RankingsFrom the Times Higher Education Supplement, this rankings system looks at universities from around the world.
- U.S. News and World Report Best Global University RankingThese institutions from the U.S. and more than 60 other countries have been ranked based on 13 indicators that measure their academic research performance and their global and regional reputations
- QS Top University RankingsThe top 50 universities for statistics in the world as ranked by higher education data specialist QS. You can search by subject area.
Higher Education Systems Abroad
Not familiar with how universities are organized or managed abroad? These encyclopedias provide an overview of higher education systems in other countries.
