The Lens
QS World University Rankings:
Asia 2026
Universities featured
New entrants
The QS World University Rankings: Asia 2026 has been released. Featuring 1,526 universities, 557 of which are new entries, a total of 25 locations are represented, making this our largest release yet.
The aim of our regional rankings is to give a more specialised view of higher education in the region. New indicators are added which differ from those in the World University Rankings such as ‘Staff with a PhD’ and ‘Exchange Students’. Some indicators are given more weight in this ranking, and some are given smaller weights to paint an accurate picture of the priorities of universities in Asia.
QS World University Rankings :
Asia 2026
Regional trends
Important international student source markets and study destinations can be found all over Asia. Some are already well established and others new and emerging due to changes in the social and political landscape. While the big four locations, the UK, the US, Australia and Canada, have dominated the international study market in previous years, new policies restricting student flows means that Asian destinations are becoming increasingly popular; particularly in East and South-East Asian countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong (SAR) and Singapore. Many of these Asian universities are adopting a collaborative approach and working to expand their global reach. Central Asia has seen the emergence of regional transformation hubs such as Kazakhstan which provides a safer and politically neutral alternative to Eastern European destinations such as Russia and Ukraine. Many TNE campuses are also opening in countries like Uzbekistan. In South Asia, India continues to be a prominent source market and is also working to attract international students to study at their universities. Nepal and Bangladesh have also become important source markets with large proportions of their students choosing to study abroad.
China (Mainland)
Mainland China is the most represented location in the Rankings with 394 ranked institutions: three in the top 10, 13 in the top 50 and 25 in the regional top 100. It also had the highest number of ranking debuts: 260. Peking University is China’s highest ranked university this year, placing second overall. Furthermore, 48 of China’s universities moved up in the rankings with the highest climber, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, rising 103 places to =283rd.
To improve their intake of international students, Mainland China is introducing a new STEM visa to make it easier for students hoping to study science, technology, engineering or medicine subjects to study in one of their top institutions. They are also making postgraduate work visas more accessible in an effort to retain the most talented students.
Hong Kong (SAR)
There are 11 universities from Hong Kong (SAR) in the Rankings with five in the top 10 and six in the top 100. The University of Hong Kong (SAR) moved up one place and is this year’s highest ranked institution. Nine of Hong Kong (SAR)’s universities managed to climb the rankings, most notably The Education University of Hong Kong, which moved up 60 places into 152nd.
Hong Kong (SAR) has the highest proportion of universities move up in the Asian rankings, 81.8%, followed by Malaysia and Thailand. City University of Hong Kong, ranked joint seventh in the region, is also scores highest for three indicators.
India
India has 294 universities in this year’s Rankings. The highest scoring of these, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, ranks =59th and is one of seven universities in the regional top 100. 36 Indian universities have improved their ranking this year with Sathyamaba Institute of Science and Technology seeing the biggest improvement and rising 111 places to rank =262nd.
India is undergoing a period of transformation under the National Education Policy 2020, which hopes to see India increase its gross enrolment ratio in higher education to 50% by 2035. Explore QS analysis into how the policy is progressing.
Japan
147 Japanese universities made this year’s rankings with eight in the regional top 50, and 12 in the top 100. The University of Tokyo, Japan’s highest-ranking university, placed 26th this year. 11 universities moved up in the rankings, most notably Yokohama National University which climbed 13 places to rank =241st.
Like India, Japan also has a dual mobility initiative which aims to send 500,000 students to study abroad and receive 400,000 international students. To meet this goal, the government are making plans to leverage English-taught programmes and joint degrees, hoping that this will make Japanese education more accessible to those who may not speak the language.
South Korea
South Korea has 103 ranked universities, six in the top 20 and 15 in the top 100, with Yonsei University ranking highest in the country in 11th place. 31 of these universities have moved up in the rankings this year. Seoul National University of Science and Technology made the most significant jump, up 86 places to =283rd. This, coupled with Seoul being recognised as the best city of students by QS, positions South Korea as a regional hub for higher education.
As many East Asian countries are, South Korea is contending with the problem of an ageing population. In an effort to resolve this, many South Korean institutions are part of a shared initiative to identify opportunities for expansion. Like China, they are also offering easier access to STEM student visas and are also offering a clearer path to citizenship for those who want to continue living and working in Korea after graduation.