Alternative Perspectives 3: University Rankings & Investment
By: Dr. Salihu Lukman
Find below another interesting engagement I had with Dr. Usman Isyaku in his posts about the importance of selecting high-ranked universities for those who want to study abroad, especially the terminal degree, PhD. Another interesting perspective on which one is better between owning a house or investing the money follows. I will reproduce his posts which are available on his Facebook wall, and my comments for context. Facebook has restricted me from commenting for 13 days, hence, I will respond to your comments after the ban is lifted. Happy reading.
Dr. Usman Isyaku’s post
If you want to study abroad for undergraduate or masters degrees, the ranking of the university matters. My suggestion is to select those that are ranked within the top 200 by Times Higher or The Guardian. They are typically more expensive but the quality of education and alumni connection is worth the additional costs. Universities are brands just like Nike, LV, Adidas, Apple or Samsung, and they are valued differently in the job market. A Cambridge University graduate is more valued by employers than a graduate from Robert Gordon University.
At PhD level, the ranking doesn’t matter. What you should be looking for is the qualification of the supervisor and his/her quality of publications. The success of your PhD depends on your supervisor’s knowledge of the subject area, experience with supervising international students, size of grants he/she was able to attract, and his/her academic networks. For example, a highly competent supervisor can be working in a low ranking university like London South Bank, but will help shape your experience better than the one from Imperial College. Also, their reference reports in support of your job applications are more likely to be considered than a relatively unknown academic because of peer to peer respect and recognition.
Many students have made mistakes and are paying the price. Choose wisely!
My comment
Thank you, Dr., for your usual guidance on academics and life in general. Having recruited numerous academics for the departments I headed here in Saudi Arabia from all over the world including those from all the highest-ranked universities, I have the following comments based on my experience:
- Select universities that are ranked at least 500 and below. If you can get a university within the best 10, that will be excellent. Selecting from the top 200 universities is good if you can, otherwise, don’t go beyond the top 500 universities.
- In selecting the ranking bodies, don’t use Webometrics ranking. Rather, I would suggest any of the following highly established and acceptable global ranking bodies in the following order:
- QS – UK
- Times Higher Education (THE) – UK
- Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Shanghai Ranking – China
- US News & World Reports (US N & WR) – US
- Go to one of the top universities based on the ranking suggested in (1) above for your undergraduate or master’s degree if you can. PhD, being the highest and ultimate academic brand coming from the universities, is the most important one that deserves to be awarded from the highest-ranked university you can that you can afford. You can get bachelor’s & master’s degrees from any university, but the ranking of the university that awarded you a PhD is what matters the most in my humble opinion. Because it will be used to brand you ultimately. You can attend Oxford or MIT for undergraduate and master’s degrees, but if your PhD is from an unranked or low-ranked university, you might be branded low. In other words, obtain your last degree – bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD – from a highly-ranked university, because, that will be used to brand you.
Dr. Usman Iyaku’s response
that’s another important perspective yhat I missed, Prof. A good ranking university is always a smart choice.
Dr. Usman Isyaku’s post
UNPOPULAR OPINION ABOUT BUYING A HOUSE
Buying a house could be a foolish idea if you have an investment strategy. Why? A decent house could cost up to 50 million Naira on average in big cities like Kano, Abuja and Lagos. Renting could be 1-2 million Naira per year.
A smart investor will rent for 3 years at 6 million Naira and invest the remaining 44 million into a business that could bring 2-5 million Naira per year. That is enough to pay off the rent plus living costs. He can quickly move out to follow opportunities everywhere they go. All it takes is to pay the rent.
A home owner doesn’t pay rent but will have to spend money on maintenance. His capital is tied up in the house for his children to inherit after he dies. He will kill any plan to move elsewhere to follow opportunities. Anytime he decides to sell the house, his wife, mother, children and neighbours will be the first to cry out even if he is dying of poverty. He bought the house for them and not for himself.
Some will say that owning a house is an investment. I don’t think so. At 2 million Naira per month, it will take 25 years to pay off. Even if the value goes up in 25 years, the house can only be sold after you die. How about your children? Well, many of them might not live in the same place, while others might be too rich to live in an old house.
Building a house in your home town or village can get you a lot of respect and recognition, but that is where it ends. You can’t find a tenant or a buyer. You threw investable money away.
Buy only when you can pay for it 3-5 times!
My comment
This is an interesting discussion, Dr. From my little exposure to investment and owning a house in Nigeria, I want you to understand that investment or starting a business is one of the most uncertain and risky areas because of several reasons that could make you lose money instantly. One of the greatest factors that affect kickstarting any business now in Nigeria is trust, especially for diasporans like you and me. People are not trustworthy at all, they will waste no time grabbing any opportunity to defraud you of your hard-earned money. This has happened to me and many diasporans, because living abroad denies you the luxury of carefully supervising your business or investment, you must rely on other people to run the show on your behalf. Other important factors affecting investments are naira instability and insecurity, especially in the north. These factors and many more make owning and investing in landed properties very attractive for those who can. The risk is low when you compare it with most other investments even though it may have a lower ROI. EFCC has said that over 95 % of embezzled monies are invested into landed properties for obvious reasons.
Depending on where you live in Nigeria, owning a house could be everything one can ever wish in life. There are places where you cannot get good rented apartments that can offer you the luxury you need in a house even if you have the money to afford it. You would be moving from one rented apartment to another in search of that ‘ideal apartment’ that you can never find. In the end, your only way out is to build your own house based on your personal preferences or buy a house and turn it into your dream house. Trust me on this, there is nothing in this world better than having satisfaction irrespective of the type of satisfaction. In our area, where you and I came from, finding satisfaction in a rented apartment is very rare. Hence, one would do all it takes to own a house if he can afford it.
Dr. Usman Isyaku’s response
very valid points. Thanks for adding your voice to this topic, Prof.
My response
It’s my pleasure. Keep charging our brains with your thought-provoking posts. This way, our brain cells will not die but will always be regenerated. 😊
Salihu Lukman is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia