Vietnam sets record with most universities in Times Higher Education rankings, including 3 newcomers

Updated: 08:05, 11/10/2024

Nine Vietnamese universities have been included in this year's Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, marking the highest number ever, with three institutions making their debut.

The three newcomers—University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi Medical University, and Ho Chi Minh City Open University—have ranked highly in their first appearance.

A class at the University of Economics HCMC, October 2024.

The University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City debuted in the 501-600 range, making it the highest-ranked Vietnamese institution in the list released on Wednesday. Following are Duy Tan University in Da Nang City and Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City, placed in the 601-800 range.

Hanoi Medical University and Ho Chi Minh City Open University ranked in the 801-1000 and 1201-1500 groups, respectively, followed by Vietnam National University, Hanoi, in the 1201–1500 group.

Vietnam National University (Ho Chi Minh City), Hue University and Hanoi University of Science and Technology are all the group of 1501+.

THE is one of the three major university ranking organizations, along with QS and the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). In June, QS released its 2025 rankings, featuring six Vietnamese universities, while no Vietnamese institutions were listed in the ARWU rankings.

THE’s 2025 rankings evaluated data from 2,092 higher education institutions across 115 countries and territories, with 185 new entries compared to last year.

The evaluation is based on 18 criteria divided into five categories: teaching (the learning environment) at 29.5%; research environment (volume, income, and reputation) at 29%; research quality (citation impact, research strength, research excellence, and research influence) at 30%; international outlook (staff, students, and research) at 7.5%; and industry (income and patents) at 4%.

This focus on research quality has allowed Duy Tan University and Ton Duc Thang University to consistently rank higher than other Vietnamese institutions.

According to a 2022 report by Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training, both universities have implemented strong policies to promote scientific research, dedicating 10-20% of their revenue to these activities.

Both institutions have also signed research cooperation agreements with domestic and international scientists, helping to increase international publications and citation indexes.

In 2022 and 2023, both universities ranked in the 401-500 group, the highest position achieved by any university in Vietnam to date.

Globally, the University of Oxford in the U.K. maintained its top position for the ninth consecutive year in THE's rankings. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. followed in second place.

The rest of the top 10 was dominated by leading institutions from the U.K. and the U.S., including Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, Stanford, Caltech, UC Berkeley, Imperial College London, and Yale.

From the 200th position onward, THE groups universities into ranking ranges, such as 201-250 and 251-300, up to the end of the list.

China, France, and Germany have seen rising recognition, with China making notable strides towards the top 10. Tsinghua University and Peking University are now placed at No. 12 and 13.

Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at Oxford, noted that these trends reflect other countries' advancements rather than a decline in the U.S. and U.K. He attributed China’s rise in reputation to increasing levels of government investment.