TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Over three-quarters of Taiwan's universities fell in the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), with National Taiwan University falling six spots.
In its World University Rankings 2023 posted on Monday (May 15), CWUR reported that 25 Taiwanese universities had slipped in rankings, while only six improved and two stayed the same. According to the United Arab Emirates-based consulting firm, the primary reason for this drop was "research performance, amid intensified global competition from well-funded institutions," with 25 declining in research performance and only eight improving.
The company ranks universities based on four factors: quality of education (25%), employability (25%), quality of faculty (10%), and research performance (40%). A total of 20,531 universities were ranked in the 2023 report, and those that made it to the top 2,000 were placed on the Global 2000 list, which features schools from 95 countries.
The top-rated university on the list is Harvard, followed by MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, and Oxford. The rest of the top 10 is comprised of private U.S. institutions: Princeton, Chicago, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Yale.
Taiwan's highest-rated university, National Taiwan University, fell six places to 102 due to flagging ratings in quality of education and research performance, despite an improved employability score. National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University dipped seven spots to 317, while National Cheng Kung University dropped 12 places to 361. National Tsing Hua University was ranked at 423 and China Medical University at 514, rounding out the top five.
The remainder of Taiwan's top 10 universities are Chang Gung University at 590, National Central University at 616, Taipei Medical University at 686, National Chung Hsing University at 738, and Kaohsiung Medical University at 776.
President of the Center for World University Rankings Dr. Nadim Mahassen was cited by the report as saying, “While Taiwan is well represented in this year’s rankings, the country’s top institutions are under increasing pressure from well-funded universities from around the world. Funding to further promote the development and reputation of Taiwan’s higher education system is vital if the country aspires to be more competitive on the global stage.”
Mahassen added, “Efforts must be made to ensure that Taiwan attracts top academics and students, that increasing enrollment numbers at universities come alongside increases in teaching capacity, and that tertiary education expenditure as a percentage of the national GDP steadily grows in the years to come.”
