National University of Singapore Still #1 in Asia Ranking

This year’s edition of the QS University Rankings: Asia sees the National University of Singapore retain the top spot, following its 12^th-place performance in last year’s QS World University Rankings®. This is also a strong year for Singapore’s other international institutions; Nanyang Technological University climbs from fourth to third, while Singapore Management University enters the ranking in 60^th position.

The University of Hong Kongis stable in second place, with three more Hong Kong-based institutions also within the top 10. China’s Tsinghua University climbs six places this year to rank fifth, overtaking Peking University, which is now ninth. Though South Korea’s two leading institutions have both fallen slightly, the country claims six of the top 20 spots – more than any other nation or territory.

While there are no new entries to the top 20, the National Taiwan University is edging closer, climbing one position to 21^st. There are also strong results for Indian institutions, with improved positions for 18 of the 21 featured in last year’s edition, and two new entries this year. IIT Bangalore remains India’s leader, climbing one place to 33^rd.

In terms of overall strength in numbers, Chinese universities dominate the table, accounting for 82 of the 350 featured institutions. Japan follows with 74 entries, while South Korea has 54, Taiwan 34 and India 23.

Published annually since 2009, the QS University Rankings: Asia aims to provide a comparison of the leading institutions in the region. For 2016, the ranking has been extended to feature the top 350 universities in Asia (from 300 last year), spread across 17 nations and territories, and selected from 920 institutions considered for inclusion.

This year is also the first time the ranking has incorporated proportion of academic staff with a PhD as part of the assessment process. This newly added indicator complements the existing assessment of faculty/student ratio, both aiming to provide proxy measures of institutional commitment to teaching quality.

The full methodology now draws on a total of 10 indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, staff with a PhD, papers published per faculty member, citations per paper, proportion of international staff and students, and proportion of outbound and inbound students.