Spotlight on Asia and the Pacific

Thousands of academics and university administrators participate in the QS Global Academic Survey each year. These respondents provide insights on the higher education landscape that form a collective baseline to identify leading institutions worldwide.

This spotlight report shares key macro trends for the top 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region. The report uncovers the patterns of academic nominations including the breakdown between domestic and international nominations and the reputability of different subject areas. Alongside this, the top three most nominated universities by country are shown. If you are interested in similar findings that are specific to your university or that of your peers, feel free to explore our QS Analytics Academic Reputation Tracker.


Why Reputation Matters

Academic reputation is an important tool for assessing a potential university for a variety of stakeholders both on and off campus, including:

  • University Planners
  • Professors
  • Partnership Managers
  • Career Counselors
  • Local and Regional Government Agencies
  • Prospective International Students (And Their Parents)

A measure of academic reputation is also a crucial component in the QS World University Rankings, weighted at 40%, where results from the QS Academic Survey are used to estimate how well a university is regarded by academic experts around the world. In Asia and the Pacific, for instance, there is a positive correlation between Academic Reputation Rank and Overall Rank (r = 0.82 for the 2019 ranking).

Chart 1: QS World University Rankings 2019: Asia Pacific

Regional Representation

A total of 1,130 universities in Asia and the Pacific were nominated 313,158 times by 55,146 global academics and university administrators during the past five years of the survey.

Chart 2: Sources of Nominations for Universities in Asia and the Pacific

The locations in Asia and the Pacific with the greatest share of total nominations were Australia (16%), Japan (15%), and China (12%). Universities in these markets received 43% of all nominations coming into the region. In terms of total nominations per number of universities within each market, Hong Kong leads the way with an average of 1277 nominations per institution.

Chart 3: Average Number of Nominations Per School

Nomination Sources

Where in the world are these nominations coming from? University professionals across 130 countries nominated institutions in Asia and the Pacific. We observe significant differences in nomination sources depending on the maturity of a given market and the global recognition of its brand.

Of the leading markets in the region, Singapore boasts the greatest share of nominations coming from international respondents (96%). In contrast, Kazakhstan has the greatest share of domestic nominations (69%).

Chart 4: Sources of Nominations | Percent of Total

Subject Specialties

Which parts of the region are known for particular subjects areas? Universities also have different reputations based on the specific academic units in question. In Asia and the Pacific overall, for instance, the most common general subjects for institutions to be nominated for are Social Sciences & Management (28%), Engineering & Technology (26%), and Natural Sciences (20%). However, many differences exist when comparing at the national level.

Chart 5: Subject Area Distributions | Percent of Total Nominations Received

The chart above is based on high-level subject area category. In QS Analytics databases, we have the ability to drill down into nearly 50 specific subject fields. The top three specific subjects, among the countries in Asia and the Pacific are displayed in Table 1.

Table 1: Top 3 Nominations by University Location and Specific Subject Area
Australia Business & Management Studies (6%) Biological Sciences (5%) Education (5%)
China Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (7%) Computer Science (6%) Engineering - Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing (5%)
Hong Kong Business & Management Studies (8%) Computer Science (6%) Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (6%)
India Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (9%) Computer Science (8%) Engineering - Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing (8%)
Japan Physics & Astronomy (7%) Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (6%) Biological Sciences (6%)
Kazakhstan Education (9%) History (7%) Law (6%)
Malaysia Business & Management Studies (8%) Education (7%) Computer Science (7%)
Singapore Business & Management Studies (8%) Computer Science (7%) Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (7%)
South Korea Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (7%) Engineering - Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing (6%) Computer Science (5%)
Taiwan Engineering - Electrical & Electronic (8%) Computer Science (7%) Engineering - Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing (6%)

Top Universities

What are the most well-regarded universities in Asia and the Pacific? The QS Academic Survey is designed to identify the most respected universities around the world. Each respondent is asked to report which universities he or she believes performs the most impactful research within their specific subject area.

Table 2: Top 3 Most Nominated Universites (In Alphabetical Order)
Australia Australian National University The University of Melbourne The University of Sydney
China Peking University Shanghai Jiao Tong University Tsinghua University
Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The University of Hong Kong
India Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Japan Kyoto University The University of Tokyo Tokyo Institute of Technology
Kazakhstan Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Kazakh National Technical University after K.I.Satpayev L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
Malaysia Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Universiti Malaya Universiti Sains Malaysia
Singapore Nanyang Technological University National University of Singapore Singapore Management University
South Korea Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology Korea University Seoul National University
Taiwan National Cheng Kung University National Taiwan University National Tsing Hua University

This lists becomes increasingly meaningful when it is sliced by the specific subjects that experts have been asked to report on, something that can be uncovered in the QS Analytics Academic Repitation Tracker.

Learn More

The QS Academic Survey has been a hallmark of the QS World University Rankings since its inception in 2004, gathering insight from experts into universities they believe to be the best at research in their respective fields. Over the last five years - the survey window considered for the rankings - we’ve gathered nearly 84,000 responses spanning across 140 countries. Roughly half of these respondents have more than 20 years of experience, either as professors or associate professors. In total, 47 subject fields are covered.

Interested in Learning More?



The following QS team members contributed to this interactive report: Alex Chisholm, Head of Analytics. Josephine West, Marketing Executive.

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