Indonesian Universities Make Inroads in the Wider World

KOMPAS.com – Indonesian higher education continued to hold their own in the wider world, as eight of the country’s institutes of higher education reached the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for 1000 of the world’s best universities in 2021.

Yogyakarta-based Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) led the way as it surged 66 points from  to 254th place from 320th in 2020 rankings.

“We welcome the results as it shows that UGM can compete at a global level,” said Universitas Gadjah Mada Rector Professor Panut Mulyono.

“Even though making it to the [global] index is not high on our list, we are nevertheless proud of this achievement. This would not have been possible without the hard work [of the university’s faculty and staff].”

Following in UGM’s wake

UGM’s long-time rival Universitas Indonesia came second at 305th, followed by the Bandung Technical Institute (ITB) at 313th. Airlangga University ranked 531st, followed by the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) at 751st. The Tenth November Institute of Technology, Bina Nusantara University and Padjajaran University rounded out the list, coming in between 801st and 1000th places.

Also read: Classes to Stay Online in Indonesian Schools Until Further Notice

The QS World University rankings are based on six criteria, namely:

• Academic reputation
• Employer reputation
• Citations per faculty
• Faculty-students ratio
• International faculty
• International students

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped the QS’ top 10 list of best universities, followed by Harvard University, Oxford University and Cambridge University. The QS list has long been used to find the best universities in the world based on their fields of study or country.