Two-thirds of Malaysian universities rise in CWUR ranking, UM up to 388th

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Two-thirds of Malaysian universities have risen in this year’s edition of the Global 2000 list by the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR).

Universiti Malaya remains the country’s top university, having risen three spots to the 388th place with a score of 75.6 thanks to improvements in research performance though the country’s oldest university declined when it comes to employability, the report accompanying the list said.

“Overall, Malaysia is improving against rivals worldwide, with two-thirds of Malaysian universities rising in the standings.

“In the global top 2000, six universities from Malaysia improved from last year, with three falling down the rankings,” the report said.

It attributed the rise of Malaysian universities to improvements in research performance.

The second highest ranking local university on the list, Universiti Putra Malaysia, fell two spots to the 785th place with a score of 71.8.

Close behind was Universiti Sains Malaysia, which fell five spots to the 794th rank with a score of 71.7.

The next six local universities on the list are: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 833rd place (71.5), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 840th place (71.4), International Islamic University Malaysia in 1546th place (67.7), MARA University of Technology in 1584th place (67.5), Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) in 1755th place (66.9), and Universiti Malaysia Pahang in 1981st place (66.0).

“While it is encouraging to see Malaysia making gains in the rankings, funding to further promote the development and reputation of Malaysia’s higher education system is vital if the country aspires to be more competitive on the global stage.

“Efforts must be made to ensure that Malaysia attracts top academics and students, that increasing enrolment numbers at universities come alongside increases in teaching capacity, and that tertiary education expenditure as a percentage of the national gross domestic product (GDP) steadily grows in the years to come,” said CWUR president Nadim Mahassen.

Harvard University remains the top-ranking university for the 12th year in a row, and is followed by two other United States (US) universities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, and two English universities, Cambridge University and Oxford University.

However, the report notes that the US is struggling to maintain its dominance in higher educational institutions as only 49 US universities have improved their ranks while 21 maintained their spots and a further 262 have fallen in rankings.

“While the results of this year’s study confirm that the US has the top higher education system in the world, the broader story for the US is concerning, with nearly 80 per cent of American universities falling down the standings due to intensified global competition from well-funded institutions, particularly from China,” said Nadim.

He noted that the decline of US universities parallels that of universities in France, Germany and Japan.

Although the top-ranking university in Asia still remains the University of Tokyo, the report said that 86 per cent of the Japanese universities in the global top 2000 declined in rankings due to the country’s government’s lower spending on tertiary education.

On the other hand, 96 per cent of Chinese universities have improved in ranks, while those that belong in the C9, China’s version of the US’ Ivy League, all improved their rankings.

“China’s rapid rise in the standings is due to the country’s continued investment in higher education, especially under the Double First-Class University Plan,” the report said.

Four factors affect the scores that rank the universities in the list: quality of education comprises 25 per cent of the score, employability takes another quarter, quality of faculty provides 10 per cent, while research performance is 40 per cent of the total.

The CWUR analysed 62 million data points in order to rank universities on a global scale, based on the four factors above.

A total of 20,351 universities were ranked this year and institutions from 95 countries made the Global 2000 list.