Past, present of guides to universities

University rankings go back to the 1870s, but few people started to take notice until more than a century later.

It was not until 1983 that the first university rankings were printed in an international publication, appearing in the United States-based News and World Report. Shortly after, the Times in UK, Germany's Der Spiegel and Macleans magazine in Canada followed suit.

In China, the government called for evaluation of the country's higher education in 1985, prompting many Chinese academics to start exploring the university rankings tables.