Times Higher Education (THE), a UK university-ranking organization, announced the 2027 World University Rankings on September 30.
Top South Korean universities, including Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Korea University, improved their rankings and scores.
However, the number of South Korean universities in the top 200 worldwide remained unchanged for the 2nd consecutive year.
3-Line Summary
1. South Korea has 6 universities in the global top 200
2. Sungkyunkwan University rose 19 places to rank 68th
3. Individual rises are different from an expansion of the top tier
Seoul National University Ranks 56th; Sungkyunkwan University Is 3rd in South Korea
A total of 2,297 universities from 118 countries were included in this evaluation. The UK’s University of Oxford ranked 1st worldwide, while Seoul National University maintained its position as South Korea’s top university at 56th. The number of South Korean universities included in the rankings increased by 3 from the previous year, reaching 44.
Changes among the country’s top universities are clear. KAIST rose from 70th to 64th, while Yonsei University rose from 86th to 80th. Sungkyunkwan University rose 19 places from 87th to 68th, moving ahead of Yonsei University and becoming South Korea’s 3rd-ranked university. Korea University rose 28 places from 156th to 128th, recording the largest ranking increase among South Korea’s top universities.
Sungkyunkwan University stated that it ranked 1st among South Korean private universities. The university explained that its scores generally increased across the 5 evaluation areas of teaching environment, research environment, research quality, industry collaboration, and international outlook. However, entering the global top 50 is Sungkyunkwan University’s next goal and plan; it is not a result confirmed by this evaluation.
6 Universities in the Top 200: Another View of the Rankings
Looking only at individual universities’ rises may make it seem as though the overall standing of South Korean universities has expanded. However, there are 4 South Korean universities in the global top 100—Seoul National University, KAIST, Sungkyunkwan University, and Yonsei University—and the number in the top 200, including Korea University and Pohang University of Science and Technology, is 6, unchanged from the previous year. The number of universities in the top 300 also remains unchanged at 10.
Meanwhile, the number of Chinese universities in the top 200 increased from 13 to 17. The gap between South Korea and China in the number of universities in the top 200 widened from 7 universities in the previous year to 11. In Asia, Tsinghua University ranked 11th, and 3 universities—including Peking University and the National University of Singapore—placed in the top 15.
Therefore, these rankings show both that the performance of South Korea’s major universities improved and that it is difficult to say South Korea’s highest-ranked university group has become deeper. It is more accurate not to read news about universities whose rankings rose and changes in the number of universities at the national level as having the same meaning.
Strong in Industry Collaboration, Low in International Outlook
THE evaluates universities based on 5 areas—teaching, research environment, research quality, industry collaboration, and international outlook—and their detailed indicators. The average industry-collaboration score of South Korea’s top 6 universities was 99.97, while the average research-quality score was also high at 83.1.
The lowest-scoring area was international outlook. The average international-outlook score among the top 6 universities was 55.6; Seoul National University scored 45.0, KAIST 47.4, and Pohang University of Science and Technology 39.1. Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University scored 75.9 and 68.7, respectively, relatively higher than other top South Korean universities.
University rankings are comparison results within defined evaluation indicators rather than report cards that judge a university’s educational quality in a single line. The point to note in this announcement is that South Korean universities’ high industry-collaboration scores appeared alongside relatively low international-outlook scores, rather than simply the individual ranking increases of South Korean universities.
References
Tags #UniversityRankings #WorldUniversityRankings #THEWorldUniversityRankings #2027WorldUniversityRankings #SeoulNationalUniversity #SungkyunkwanUniversity #KoreaUniversity #KAIST #YonseiUniversity #PohangUniversityofScienceandTechnology #WorldUniversityEvaluation #SouthKoreanUniversityRankings #UniversityEvaluation #UniversityInternationalization