Pakistani universities fail to make mark in Asia's best university ranking

Can you guess the top ranked university in Pakistan?

Ten Pakistani universities have been named among the best universities in Asia, with Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) emerging as the best university in Pakistan, according to global higher education analysts, QS Quacquarelli Symonds.

However, no Pakistani university made it to the top 100 universities in Asia. The largest-ever regional university ranking, which compared Asia’s best universities, saw LUMS move past four fellow Pakistani universities, after a 50-place, 5-band leap up the rankings. It is now ranked 111th in Asia by QS. LUMS’ rise is the consequence of improvements in 7 of 9 metrics used by QS last year.



Meanwhile, the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad became Pakistan’s second-highest-ranked institution, rising from 119th to joint 112th. It now outperforms Quaid-e-Azam University, which fell from 116th to joint 149th.

Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, previously the nation’s top university,  is now jointly ranked 149th, falling from 115th last year. Aga Khan University has also fallen from 117th position to 183rd. The University of Karachi, on the other hand, jumped from the 251st-300th band to the 201st-210th band.





The QS University Rankings Asia have expanded this year to include the region’s 350 best universities – an expansion of 50 on the previous year. They have also included methodological enhancements this year, introducing staff with PhD in order to add another dimension to the analysis of teaching quality their rankings provide.

Of the 517 universities evaluated in the region, the top three places are held by their previous owners: National University of Singapore (1^st) is joined by the University of Hong Kong (2^nd) and Nanyang Technological University (3^rd).



 

South Korea took six of the top-20 places (more than any other nation or territory featured), Hong Kong Territory took four of the top-10 places, while China, Singapore, and South Korea took two each.