South Korean media: Five Chinese universities enter global top 30, South Korea has none!

On July 20, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo reported that according to the recently released "QS World University Rankings 2026" by the UK-based global university ranking organization QS, five Chinese universities have entered the top 30 globally—while South Korea has none. The country's top-ranked university, Seoul National University, maintained its position at 38th place, unchanged from last year. Over the past decade, South Korea's top-tier universities have seen stagnant development, while Chinese universities are experiencing rapid growth.

QS evaluated over 5,000 universities worldwide across nine categories and selected the top 1,500. A total of 43 South Korean universities made the list, remaining unchanged from last year. China had 99 universities on the list—18 more than last year—making it the Asian country with the highest number of institutions featured. India ranked second with 52 universities (down from 54 last year), while Japan had 41 universities on the list, a decrease of six from last year. This marks the first time that the number of South Korean universities on the list exceeded Japan’s.

After Seoul National University (ranked 38th), other South Korean universities ranked globally include Yonsei University (42nd), Korea University (52nd), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (65th), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (106th), Sungkyunkwan University (108th), and Hanyang University (155th). Their strong performance can mainly be attributed to consistently high scores in "Academic Reputation," which accounts for 30% of the total ranking—the most heavily weighted criterion among all evaluation indicators. In terms of academic reputation, Seoul National University ranks 18th globally, Yonsei University 61st, Korea University 69th, and KAIST 46th.

However, South Korean universities lag behind in the "Student-to-Faculty Ratio" indicator, which reflects educational quality. In this metric, Seoul National University ranked 140th, Yonsei University 145th, and Korea University 183rd. Moreover, the rankings of most universities have declined. This is due to universities reducing full-time faculty hires and instead relying on part-time lecturers to fill staffing gaps.

South Korean universities continue to underperform in the area of "internationalization." In the "International Research Network" index measuring collaboration with foreign scholars, Korea University ranked 278th, Yonsei University 400th, Seoul National University 460th, and KAIST 801st. The "Proportion of International Faculty" index also remains low: Yonsei University ranked 617th, Korea University 640th, KAIST 673rd, and Seoul National University 801st.

The education sector believes the fundamental reason South Korean universities have fallen out of the global top 30 lies in insufficient investment in higher education. According to the OECD's "Education Indicators 2025," as of 2022, South Korea's per-student public expenditure in primary, secondary, and high schools was $21,476—far exceeding the OECD average of $12,438 and ranking second among 38 countries. In contrast, spending on higher education amounted to only $6,617—less than half of the OECD average ($15,102)—ranking 36th out of 38 countries.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1871236289855488/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author.