International rankings of universities raise numerous questions. How can you fairly compare universities that operate in different countries, with different sources of funds and different missions? Despite the obstacles, several players do such comparisons: Times Higher Education, U.S. News & World Report and QS are three. A report being released today by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley, raises questions about whether QS has a conflict of interest in its rankings. QS has a consulting business that helps universities in various ways. The report - by Igor Chirikov, a senior researcher at the center - suggests that the business could be influencing the rankings inappropriately.