In terms of student enrollment, the number of degree programs, the variety of research projects it develops and the breadth of cultural diffusion activities it sponsors, the National Autonomous University of Mexico is the largest university in Latin America. Moreover, the UNAM boasts campuses throughout the country, exercises an important influence in the country’s development and provides far-reaching inspiration over the entire Latin American region.

The following international ranking indicators bring the UNAM’s standing into high relief:

• The 2009 Ranking Web of the World Universities ranks UNAM in 44th place, as the only university in Latin America included among the top fifty.¹. This ranking scale looks at 15 thousand universities and ranks only the top six thousand. The ranking criteria include an assessment of the institution’s quality and its global impact.².



• The Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking is considered one of the most important assessments of academic performance. Its ranking --denominated the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)-- has been carried out since 2003. It assesses 12 thousand universities, ranking the top 500, primarily from the stand point of the international impact of the research the institution produces. Since 2004, the UNAM and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil have been ranked among the top 200 world universities, with grades similar to those of their Spanish counterparts. In its 2007 assessment, ARWU ranked the UNAM in 152nd place on a global scale, 78th regionally and 1st in the Nation.³.



• The 2008 World Universities Ranking, published since 2004 by the Times Higher Education Supplement, positions the UNAM in 150th place worldwide. The ranking applies an assessment of a university’s prestige in the job market. The UNAM ranks ahead of the University of Barcelona, ranked 186th, and the University of Sao Paulo, standing 196th.⁴.

References

1.- The University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) appears as number 87, the Complutense University of Madrid and Barcelona 138 and 155, respectively.
2.-http://www.webometrics.info/Webometrics%20library/iberoamerica_jan09.pdf
3.- http://www.arwu.org/Spainish/rankings2008reviewed/101-200.pdf
4.-http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2008/overall_rankings/fullrankings/