NANYANG Technological University (NTU) in Singapore held onto first place in this year’s QS top 50 Under 50 Rankings, a renowned listing of universities that were established less than 50 years ago.
NTU scored a total of 91.3/100 across a range of criteria, including research impact and staff to student ratio.
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – aged 27-years-old – and Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) – aged 47-years-old – also managed to hold their places from last year’s rankings in second and third, respectively.
SEE ALSO: Hong Kong dominates Asian university rankings
| Ranking | Institution | Country |
| 1 | Nanyang Technological University | Singapore |
| 2 | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | Hong Kong |
| 3 | Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology | South Korea |
| 4 | Université PSL | France |
| 5 | City University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 6 | Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH) | South Korea |
| 7 | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong |
| 8 | CentraleSupélec | France |
| 9 | Aalto University | Finland |
| 10 | University of Technology Sydney | Australia |
| 11 | Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento | Italy |
| 12 | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia | Malaysia |
| 13 | Universiti Putra Malaysia | Malaysia |
| 14 | Universiti Sains Malaysia | Malaysia |
| 15 | Maastricht University | Netherlands |
| 16 | University of Wollongong | Australia |
| 17 | University of Antwerp | Belgium |
| 18 | Universiti Teknologi Malaysia | Malaysia |
| 19 | Queensland University of Technology | Australia |
| 20 | Curtin University | Australia |
| 21 | RMIT University | Australia |
| 22 | Universidad Carlos III de Madrid | Spain |
| 23 | National Taiwan University of Science and Technology | Taiwan |
| 24 | University of Tsukuba | Japan |
| 25 | University of South Australia | Australia |
| 26 | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya | Spain |
| 27 | Hong Kong Baptist University | Hong Kong |
| 28 | National Yang-Ming University | Taiwan |
| 29 | Universitat Pompeu Fabra | Spain |
| 30 | Linköping University | Sweden |
| 31 | Deakin University | Australia |
| 32 | Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology | South Korea |
| 33 | Khalifa University | United Arab Emirates |
| 34 | Universiti Brunei Darussalam | Brunei |
| 35 | Griffith University | Australia |
| 36 | Qatar University | Qatar |
| 37 | Aalborg University | Denmark |
| 38 | National Research University Higher School of Economics | Russia |
| 39 | United Arab Emirates University | United Arab Emirates |
| 40 | Oxford Brookes University | UK |
| 41 | Tampere University of Technology | Finland |
| 42 | Universidad Austral | Argentina |
| 43 | James Cook University | Australia |
| 44 | American University of Sharjah | United Arab Emirates |
| 45 | Swinburne University of Technology | Australia |
| 46 | L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University | Kazakhstan |
| 47 | Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences | Pakistan |
| 48 | National Sun Yat-sen University | Taiwan |
| 49 | Universidade Nova de Lisboa | Portugal |
| 50 | Ben Gurion University of The Negev | Israel |
All of the top three universities can be found in Asia, while 16 of the top 50 Under 50 are also located on the continent. From this, it’s expected the trend towards studying in the economic powerhouse of Asia will continue, and Asian students will be much more likely to study closer to home.
Australia was the most represented country in the rankings, with 11 universities earning a place on the league table.
The US, UK and Canada are somewhat absent in the rankings. The UK features one institution Oxford Brookes University, located in the same town as its superior Oxford University – while the US and Canada have no universities in the Top 50 Under 50 2019.
This could see Australia reclaim its place as third most popular study abroad destination, a title that was stolen by Canada this year.
The University of Technology Sydney was the highest ranked out of 11 Australian institutions on the QS list. Source: Pisaphotography/ Shutterstock
Saying that, the QS Top 50 Under 50 tell a very different story to the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings released earlier this month. In these rankings, the UK was the most represented nation, followed by Australia. This indicates that it’s still too early draw certain predictions about what the rankings will mean for international students.
Dr Richard Holmes, Editor of University Ranking Watch told Study International: “New universities, especially in Asia and especially with strengths in technology, such as KAIST and Nanyang have been outscoring their older competitors in some of the significant rankings.”
SEE ALSO: Singapore: NTU trumps arch rival NUS again to be Asia’s best university
“Some new universities … seem to have more freedom to introduce innovative curricula, recruit international staff and leadership, avoid political interference and social restrictions in a way that established universities are unable to,” he added.
“But it seems that they need substantial support from state and/or private enterprise to really get off the ground.”
A version of this article originally appeared on our sister site Study International.
