Six Korean universities reach Asia’s top 20, yet top 10 remains elusive

Six Korean universities made the top 20 in the 2027 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings, with Yonsei University retaining its position as the country’s top-ranked institution

No Korean university broke into the top 10 for another consecutive year

Yonsei placed highest among domestic institutions at 11th, followed closely by Korea University (KU) in 12th. Both universities held the same ranks as last year

The annual regional rankings by higher education analytics firm QS featured 1,722 universities across Asia this year, using weightings tailored to reflect regional dynamics

In the regional evaluation, citations per paper and papers per faculty replace the single citations per faculty metric used in the global rankings. Regional-specific criteria also include the proportion of staff holding a Ph.D. and the ratios of inbound and outbound exchange students. Additionally, employer reputation and international research networks carry heavier weight, while international faculty and international student ratios carry less weight.

The 11 metrics comprising the Asia rankings are academic reputation (30 percent), employer reputation (20 percent), faculty-to-student ratio (10 percent), citations per paper (10 percent), international research network (10 percent), papers per faculty (5 percent), staff with Ph.D. (5 percent), international faculty (2.5 percent), international students (2.5 percent), inbound exchange (2.5 percent) and outbound exchange (2.5 percent).

In total, 108 Korean higher education institutions were featured in this year’s edition

Yonsei earned an overall score of 97.6, securing perfect scores of 100 in academic reputation, staff with Ph.D., inbound exchange and employer reputation

KAIST re-entered the list at 15th overall — ranking third domestically — after being excluded from last year’s edition following an investigation into survey lobbying by a professor

Sungkyunkwan University tied for 15th, up from 16th last year, while Seoul National University (SNU) rose one spot to 16th. Hanyang University also climbed one step to 19th from 20th. Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) slipped to 22nd from 18th

Among other top domestic institutions, Kyung Hee University rose one spot to 38th from 39th last year. Chung-Ang University climbed two spots to 63rd, while Ewha Womans University jumped to 64th from 69th. Sogang University improved significantly, rising to 65th from 83rd. Pusan National University held 76th place, unchanged from last year. Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) rose to 79th from 83rd, while Kyungpook National University fell to 97th from 94th.

The regional standings diverge from the QS World University Rankings published earlier in June due to differences in metric weightings. In the world rankings, SNU led among domestic institutions, followed by Yonsei, KU, KAIST and POSTECH

Across Korea, 35 percent of previously ranked universities improved their standings, 9 percent remained unchanged and 56 percent declined

“Korea’s best universities are among the strongest in Asia. Six are in the regional top 20, almost all of the top tier have climbed or held their place, and four are among the 15 universities in the region most respected by academics. KAIST’s return makes that group stronger still,” Ben Sowter, senior vice president of QS, said

“Further down, it is a harder year. More than half of Korea’s ranked universities fall, and most of the losses are outside the capital region, where the shrinking university-age population is already affecting enrollment.”

“To hold its position, Korea needs more international research collaboration and more international faculty. Those are the two areas where its universities are losing most ground to regional competitors,” Sowter added

QS also cited Korea’s low fertility rate, noting that domestic university applicants have fallen short of total admission quotas every year since 2021

Reputation remains Korea’s strongest suit. SNU ranked fifth in Asia for Academic Reputation and sixth for Employer Reputation — the highest performance in both categories nationwide. KAIST ranked 10th in Academic Reputation, while Yonsei placed 12th and KU 15th

Yonsei and KU also ranked seventh and eighth in Asia for inbound exchange students, respectively

Across Asia, Hong Kong dominated the top tier, with the most universities in the top 10. The University of Hong Kong ranked first for the second straight year, followed by Peking University, Tsinghua University, City University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]

Source: www.koreajoongangdaily.com