Korean universities move up in global rankings

Korea's universities are receiving new attention of late, with the recent publication of university assessments placing them among the top-ranking schools in the world.

This year's Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asian University Rankings, published in partnership with the Chosun Ilbo, placed three Korean universities in the top ten list of higher education institutions in the Asian region.

POSTECH, established in 1986, was ranked first in a list of the world's 100 best universities that are less than 50 years old (photo courtesy of POSTECH).

Seoul National University was ranked fourth, with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in seventh and Pohang University (POSTECH) in ninth. This marks the first year that three of Korea's universities have been ranked in the top ten since the rankings began being published annually in 2009.

Nineteen of Korea's schools were included in this year's top 100, with Yonsei University coming in at 16th, Korea University in 21st, and Sungkyunkwan University in 24th. The rankings were based on criteria such as academic reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, peer faculty and student review, and publications produced by faculty.

A scene from a classroom at KAIST, located in Daejeon, the provincial capital of Chungcheongnam-do (photo courtesy of KAIST)

Korea's schools also emerged at the top of Times Higher Education Magazine's 100 Under 50 list, which ranks the world's 100 best universities that are less than 50 years old. POSTECH came in first, with KAIST following closely behind in fifth.

Published for the first time this year, together with Times Higher Education's World University Rankings, the 2012 100 Under 50 list included schools from 30 countries. Evaluation was based on 13 performance indicators across five categories, including research volume and influence as well as the overall learning environment.

"[This] list of the top universities founded since 1962 shows which nations have made the greatest strides in developing their higher-education systems and which universities might hold the most promise", said editor Phil Baty of Times Higher Education, in a phone interview with Bloomberg.com.

"We're looking for future stars", Baty continued. "Some of these institutions have done remarkably well in a matter of decades, and the potential is there. There's a real sense that many of these nations are poised to steal America's crown".

By Kwon Jungyun
Korea.net Staff Writer