Please Explain podcast: How does university ranking affect Australia's tertiary education?

Since they began more than a decade ago, global university rankings have become increasingly important to the booming tertiary education sector.

Potential students use them to guide their choice of institution, but Australian National University vice-chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt is questioning the validity of these systems, saying they mislead students and distort universities’ research priorities.

He says rankings have too much influence over important university choices and cited investing in First Nation studies as an example of a decision that sent rankings backwards.

In this episode, group executive editor James Chessell and the Herald's education editor Jordan Baker discuss the role of international ranking systems on our tertiary education sector.

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