PETALING JAYA: Malaysian universities continue to improve in terms of sustainability – be it social impact, environmental impact and governance, according to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025.
The country's 29 ranked universities' average score overall is 52.5, putting the country 28th overall, ahead of Japan, the Philippines and Iceland.
Of the 29 ranked institutions, nine climbed the table and three ranked for the first time.
Employability and Outcomes, and Health and Wellbeing are two ranks where Malaysian institutions have risen in the 2025 rankings. Some institutions have also improved their Impact of Education scores.
Malaysia is also home to seven of Asia's top 100 universities for sustainability.
QS vice-president said Malaysian universities have outstanding results in the Environmental Sustainability and Knowledge Exchange categories this year.
"The Asian higher education system is gradually improving in global rankings and Malaysia is no exception," he said in a press release on Tuesday (Dec 10).
He also said Knowledge Exchange and Equality are two areas where institutions should be looking to make improvements in the next year, as well as governance.
Universiti Malaya is the top ranked local institution, moving from 132nd to 115th globally.
It is the top ranked institution in Malaysia for sustainability, seeing impressive scores in Knowledge Exchange (72nd), Employability and Outcomes (113th) and Environmental Sustainability (46th).
It is the only Malaysian institution in the top 100 for the Environmental Impact category, ranked 96 this year, and its high score in the Knowledge Exchange rank (ninth) helped to place it in the top 30 countries worldwide.
Rounding up the top five in the country is Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (245th), Universiti Sains Malaysia (251st), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (328th) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (333).
Meanwhile, the top private university UCSI University, is ranked 472nd internationally and also ranked seventh in the world for Environmental Sustainability.
Next is Sunway University (480th), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (554th), Taylor's University (557th) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (559th).
Completing the top 10 Malaysian institutions in the rankings is Universiti Teknologi Mara at 607th.
Sitting at the top of the chart is Canada's University of Toronto followed by ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and Lund University, Sweden, and University of California, Berkeley (UCB) in joint third.
The third edition of the rankings showcases over 1,740 universities from 107 countries and territories.
QS chief executive officer Jessica Turner said sustainability is a top priority for today's students, with nine in ten identifying it as important and 40% actively researching universities' sustainability strategies during the application process, according to the latest QS International Students Survey.
"This underscores the urgency for sustainability to remain at the forefront of institutional agendas," she said.
