SINGAPORE – The National University of Singapore (NUS) has retained its spot in the top 10 in a global ranking of institutions, while Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has re-entered the top 20.
NUS remained eighth in the latest Britain-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2025 released on June 5, while NTU emerged 15th, up from its 2024 ranking of 26.
The ranking of institutions in this edition features 1,500 universities across 106 countries, with NUS as the highest-ranked Asian university and the first from Asia to be placed among the top 10 in the table.
The chart is dominated by universities from the United States and Britain, topped by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, similar to previous years, followed by Imperial College London in second, which climbed four places.
The University of Oxford is third, Harvard University fourth and the University of Cambridge is ranked fifth.
The QS rankings are based on nine indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, international student ratio, international research network, employment outcomes, and sustainability.
The three factors with the highest weightage are academic reputation, citations per faculty and employer reputation, carrying weightages of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
Indicators like international research network, employment outcomes and sustainability – three new metrics introduced in 2024’s ranking – carry a weightage of 5 per cent each.
NTU and NUS did well in academic and employer reputation, as well as citations per faculty, which measures strong research output.
NUS came in sixth for employment outcomes and 15th for academic reputation. It ranks 26th globally for sustainability, which measures the commitment from institutions to environmentally and socially responsible practices and policies.
Professor Tan Eng Chye, president of NUS, said: “We are heartened that NUS has placed among the world’s top 10 and retained its lead in Asia in the QS World University Rankings 2025 – a collective achievement by our outstanding faculty, staff, students and alumni.
“This year, most notably, NUS has made considerable progress in the sustainability indicator, a testament to our whole-of-university approach to shape a sustainable future through interdisciplinary solutions across education, research and campus operations.”
He added: “The NUS community remains resolute in our commitment to foster a vibrant and dynamic academic environment which inspires and drives positive impact for everyone.”
NTU’s climb of 11 places from 26th in the 2024 QS rankings was driven by improvements in employer reputation and sustainability.