PETALING JAYA: A total of 11 Malaysian universities are among the top 100 in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027.
Malaysia is also the eighth most-represented higher education system in the latest edition of the rankings, with 55 featured universities.
With competition intensifying across the region, 20 Malaysian universities improved their position, four held steady and 25 declined.
Despite dropping two places to 17th, Universiti Malaya (UM) ranks among the top 20 in Asia for the ninth consecutive year and remains the country's top institution.
Malaysia's oldest varsity is followed by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) which enters the top 20 for the first time, Universiti Putra Malaysia (24), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (25) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (27).
Taylor's University is the top private institution in the country, now ranked 32, while UCSI University is at 36 and Sunway University climbed eight spots to 47.
Sunway University ranks among the top 50 for the first time and INTI International University ranks among the top 100 for the first time.
Additionally, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) enters the top 150, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) the top 200 and SEGi University and IMU University the top 300.
Meanwhile, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology made the top 600
QS senior vice president Ben Sowter said the past decade has seen Malaysia more than doubled the number of universities in the top 100 in the QS World University Rankings: Asia.
"With an ambitious blueprint for higher education up to 2035 released earlier this year, Malaysia's higher education system has potential to excel and grow even further," he said in a press release today (Nov 3).
The QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027 features more than 1720 universities from 26 higher education systems, with 195 entrants joining the rankings this year.
The University of Hong Kong is ranked first in the region for another year, with second place Peking University also remaining unchanged. Tsinghua University climbs six places to rank third.
