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Times Higher Education (THE) has ranked 100 of the world’s top universities that boast the best student-to-staff ratio.

The rankings feature universities from 23 regions across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Surprisingly, not a single UK institution made it to the rankings, despite being the world’s second most popular study abroad destination after the USA.

The universities featured in the top 100 are also ranked within the top 600 in THE’s World University Rankings for 2016. While the average ratio for the 800 universities featured in the general rankings stands at 16.5 students for every member of staff, all institutions featured in this table boast no more than nine students for every teacher.

Via Times Higher Education.

Universities with a total student cohort of no more than 5,000 students claimed the best student-to- staff ratio, such as the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in the USA, for example, which hosts a tiny population of 1,211 students and an impressive student-to-staff ratio of just 0.6, earning it first position on THE’s league table.

MCW actually boasts more members of staff than it does students, allowing the institution to provide constant, tight-knit and inclusive support for all its student trainees.

With a population in excess of 15,000 students, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) was one of many US institutions that managed to maintain suitable student-to-staff ratio despite a large student body. With just over three and a half students for each member of staff, JHU was ranked 11th out of the 100 global universities.

The University of Dhaka in Bangladesh has a student-to-staff ratio of around seven students for every teacher, but with a population of 62,000, also has the largest student body of all the universities featured on the table. The California Institute of Technology in the USA, ranked the world’s best small university by THE, has the same student-to-staff ratio as Dhaka, but only just scrapes a top 50 position (ranked 47) as it hosts a student population of just 2,243.

Japan boasts four universities in top 10 positions, including Showa University in 4th place, with a relatively small population of 3,675 and a student-staff-ratio of 2.5. The Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) was Japan’s second highest ranked institution, followed by Juntendo University and Yokohama City University, ranked 7th and joint 10th, respectively.

Outside of the top 100, the UK university with the lowest student-to-staff ratio is the University College London, which has 10.7 students for every member of staff.

The University of Copenhagen in Denmark achieved 13th position with a large student population of 27,545, but a student-to-staff ratio of just over four students for every teacher. Despite the encouraging ratio, current sociology student Malthe Agger told THE that lectures often hold more than 100 students at a time, and workshops as many as 20-30 students.

Via Times Higher Education.

However, Agger emphasised that he has still been able to forge positive working relationships with every one of his tutors despite the substantial size of some of his classes.

“I consider many of my professors as great academic icons, so I always make sure to talk to them in breaks because not only are they always friendly and open, but I always learn new things every time I speak to them,” he says.

“I have never been afraid to ask a question during a lecture or student training. I think of many of my teachers as friends and equals, even though our degree and title might be different. “

Click here to view THE’s full list of the top 100 universities with the best student-to-staff ratio.

Image via Shutterstock.

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