A Chinese list of the world's top universities would seem an unlikely concern for French politicians. But this year, France's legislature took aim at the annual rankings produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which claims to list the 500 best universities in the world. The highest-ranked French entry, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, comes in at No. 42. Outraged by France's overall weak showing in the rankings, which are dominated by American and British institutions, the French Senate issued a report arguing that the researchers were clearly biased in favor of English-speaking institutions. Gallic pride aside, the legislators' concern underscores a fundamental change in higher education. Simply put, it has become an international enterprise. The flow of students, researchers, and money now takes place on a global scale. This article reports that as a result, people are paying close attention to where their institutions end up in international, as well as national rankings, however flawed they may be.