VNExpress-Mar 14
Singapore and Malaysia dominate a pilot Southeast Asia university ranking by Times Higher Education (THE), with Singapore taking the top two spots and Malaysian institutions occupying most positions in the top 10. The National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University rank first and second respectively in the table, which evaluates 195 universities across Southeast Asia using the same methodology as the World University Rankings. Seven Malaysian universities appear in the top 10, led by Universiti Teknologi Petronas in third place. Universiti Brunei Darussalam of Brunei is the only institution outside Singapore and Malaysia in the top tier, ranking seventh. Thailand and Vietnam narrowly miss the top 10 but still place institutions in the top 15, including Chulalongkorn University, UEH University in Vietnam and Mahidol University. Elsewhere in the region, the University of Indonesia, the country’s leading institution, ranks 22nd, while the Philippines’ Ateneo de Manila University is placed 28th. Malaysia has the strongest presence among the top 50 institutions, with 18 universities in the group.
However, Indonesia has the largest number of ranked institutions overall, with 35 universities included.
A recent report by THE’s consultancy arm suggests Indonesia could surpass the United States and Brazil within a decade to become the world’s third-largest higher education system by student numbers. Universities in the ASEAN region were evaluated using 18 indicators across five categories: teaching (learning environment), which accounts for 30%; research (environment, volume and reputation), 35%; citations (research impact), 33%; international outlook (staff and students); and industry income (innovation).
