In pursuit of world-class university, ranking system has become a signifi cant indicator to measure the quality of higher education. In North America, U.S. News & World Report has successfully created a benchmark of university ranking and aroused the attention of the world for the past 30 years. In addition, in Canada, Maclean’s Report organized Canadian universities ranking starting from 1991, 8 years later than U.S. News & World Report. These two main university ranking systems dominate the standards of distinguishing the quality of universities in North America. This paper aims to provide a thorough understanding of North America’s two well-known university ranking systems-‘U.S. News & World Report’ and ‘Maclean’s’, for the purpose of outlining the future prospects of university ranking.