For the third consecutive time this year, the University of Memphis has been awarded for being a top ranked school in the world by the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
It now holds the 147th spot in the United States, which pushes it up nine spots from last year.
The university’s new global ranking is the third one that it has received over the last year.
“What makes the University of Memphis’ inclusion in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings more impressive is the fact that the world ranking, and the U.S. ranking had more institutions competing in the rankings this year,” said Dr. Colton Cockrum, University of Memphis assistant vice provost, in a press release.
In April, the school ranked in the top 4.9 percent in the world out of nearly 20,000 colleges in the Global 2000 List by the Center for World University Rankings.
It also holds the spot as the number two ranked public college in Tennessee, according to the U.S. News & World Report.
Furthermore, it is one of only three higher education institutions in Tennessee that have been offered a global rank.
The other two are Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee.
This year, teaching was one of the areas where the university scored highly, making professors proud that their hard work has paid off.
Terris King, an instructor in the university’s journalism department, thinks very highly of the achievement.
“I think it’s awesome considering the circumstances with the pandemic,” she said.
“The professors and I have gone above and beyond. This means making sure students are understanding concepts and even video chatting with a student on the weekends.”
Dr. Robert Byrd, another professor in the department, echoed King’s views.
“I think for a lot of us,” he said, “this is what we’re good at- teaching.”
Byrd, who has been a professor at the university for several years, also said that because of the pandemic, their focus has changed.
“More of the focus has been on students lately- making sure that everyone is okay and safe, but also still learning,” he said.
Students praised the hard work of their professors for helping them get through the pandemic.
“My professors spent a lot of one-on-one time with me making sure I understood all of the material,” said Kayla Jones, a 20-year-old health science major at the university.
Ayanna Hale, another student who is originally from Mississippi, said that the pandemic helped her grow closer to her instructors.
“It felt like I grew a personal connection with the staff in previous semesters,” she said, “I was able to tell them about things going on in my life that hindered my learning, and they were so understanding.”
