Seven Malaysian varsities in top 980 of Times list

PETALING JAYA: Seven Malaysian institutions have been included in the top 980 of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2016-17.

They are Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Uni­versiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)and Uni­versiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). (see table)

UTP and UUM are ranked at 601-800 and 801+ bands for the first time.

THE World University Rankings editor Phil Baty said it was great news that seven Malaysian universities made this year’s list of the world’s top universities, including five in the 601-800 band.

“Malaysia invests a huge amount in higher education and has marketed itself as a knowledge economy and innovation hub in recent years.

“However, the nation’s public universities have been hit by a 15% budget cut this year after the economy came under pressure from lower oil and commodity prices,” he said.

Baty said Malaysia must ensure it continued to make higher education a priority if it wanted to meet its ambition to create world-class universities.

UUM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Mustafa Ishak said he was glad that UUM was listed this year as “we are not a full-fledged university”.

He said this was because UUM only offered courses in management, business and social science.

UTP vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Abdul Rahim Hashim expressed his joy at the university making its way into the rankings.

He said this was the first time the private university took part in the THE rankings.

UPM vice-chancellor Prof Datin Paduka Dr Aini Ideris said the rankings mattered when it came to forming stakeholders’ perception of the university.

“We can benchmark ourselves with our international counterparts,” she added.

Baty said for the first time in the 12-year history of the rankings, the United States lost the top spot to Britain’s Oxford University.