The recession has forced the hand of the University into implementing budget cuts, reducing staff and axing various programs. But despite the rough economy, other universities, both nationally and internationally, have been forced to cope with these same pressures.

The 2009 Times Higher Education — Q.S. World University Rankings were released yesterday, and Cornell has retained the number 15 ranking that it earned in 2008 with an overall score of 92.5. While Harvard has remained at the top of the list — despite an approximate 30 percent drop in its endowment according to The Wall Street Journal — the numbers two and three rankings have flipped: The University of Cambridge has moved up to the number two spot, replacing Yale University which dropped down to number three.

The Times Higher Education stated in a press release that the sixth edition of the annual rankings sent to academics and employers drew the highest response ratefor the surveys.

Phil Baty, deputy editor of the Times Higher Education stated, “We are particularly pleased that this year Q.S. and the Times Higher Education are drawing on more data than ever before to compile the rankings ... and the best ever response rate to the international peer review survey.”

The ranking system entails six different categories: academic peer review, weighted at 40 percent; faculty-to-student ratio, weighted at 20 percent; citations per faculty, weighted at 20 percent; employer review, weighted at 10 percent; proportion of international faculty, weighted at five percent; and proportion of international students, weighted at five percent.

University College London rose from the number seven position to fourth in the world ranking. Citing this rise, Ben Sowter, head of the Q.S. Intelligence Unit, said that this was an indication "that concerted research efforts can result in improved performance in the increasingly competitive field of global higher education.”

According to the Times Higher Education, Cornell was able to sustain its number 15 ranking largely because of its strength in research. With aid such as the $2.5 million that the University received in federal stimulus funds, Cornell's research has been able to continue despite the economic turmoil.

Among the other Ivy League institutions, Princeton University returned to the top 10 with its number eight ranking, Columbia dropped one spot to number 11, Brown University was ranked number 30 and Dartmouth College finished with a number 85 ranking.