The rise of high-performing universities
The latest regional university rankings consist of 1000 universities in Asia, Latin America, the Arab region and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Ben Sowter, Research Director, QS shared that the latest regional rankings revealed an emerging trend in higher education within this region – an increasing number of universities are attempting to outdo prestigious universities in rankings through proactivity. ‘Second-tier’ universities in Japan and Malaysia are seen to be making progress as they begin making their way up into the top 50; while Mexico and Turkey witnessed a substantial representation in the uppermost tier of the lists.
Each ranking adopted a distinct methodology from that used for the overall QS World University Rankings, reflecting the specific challenges and focuses of each higher education landscape.
Arab region
In the Arab region, Lebanon’s American University of Beirut took the lead for the first time while King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) slipped to the second position.
Following close behind are King Saud University and King Abdul Aziz University, attaining the third and fourth place respectively. United Arab University makes it to the top 5 as it rose from sixth to fifth place; while Oman’s Sultan Qaboos University claimed the 10th position.
Saudi Arabia is the most represented nation in the rankings with 21 universities among the top 100. It is followed by Egypt and Jordan with 13 universities each. United Arab Emirates has 12 universities while Iraq and Lebanon has 11 and 8 universities respectively.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Lomonosov Moscow State University of Russia remained the leading institution. Russia took three of the top four with Novosibirsk State University and Saint Petersburg State University at the second and fourth place respectively. The third place was occupied by the Estonia’s University of Tartu, while Czech Republic’s Charles University came in fifth.
For the first time, Turkey has two universities that made it to the top 10 and they are Bogaziçi Universitesi (7th) and Middle East Technical University (9th).
The top 10 features universities from Russia (3), Czech Republic (2), Turkey (2), Estonia (1), Poland (1) and Kazakhstan (1).
Latin America
Among the Latin American universities, Universidade de Sao Paulo of Brazil, the previous leading institution came in third this time around; while Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile clinched the first position. Taking the second place is Universidade Estadual de Campinas of Brazil. Other two universities that made it to the top 5 are the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Technológico de Monterrey.
The top 50 features universities from Brazil (16), Chile (8), Mexico (7), Argentina (6), Colombia (5), Costa Rica and Venezuela (2), and Peru, Puerto Rico and Uruguay (1).
Asia
In Asia, Singapore’s Nanyang Technology University clinched the first spot while National University of Singapore slipped to the second place. Other three universities that made it to the top 5 include Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (3rd), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (4th) and University of Hong Kong (5th).
Other Asian universities that made it to the top 10 include Tsinghua University (sixth), Fudan University (7th), City University of Hong Kong (8th), Peking University (9th) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (10th).
Universities in Malaysia took a leap forward as three of its universities enters the top 50, joining Japan’s top four universities led by University of Tokyo. On the contrary, seven of India’s Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Science witnessed a slip in rankings.
Source: University World News