Malaysia, it’s time to pop open that sparkling, non-alcoholic apple cider and celebrate: Universiti Malaya (UM) has placed tenth in a global ranking of best university engineering programs.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh made the announcement at a press conference yesterday afternoon, stating that the list compiled by US News, a “leading college and university rankings website” most of us have not heard of, and announced on Wednesday.
He told reporters gathered at the Parliament building that “US News gathers about 600 top global universities and in the engineering field, [and] UM has placed number 10 in the world. This is a significant acknowledgement of our education system.”
Indeed, it is, and congratulations to the UM for the global recognition.
Rated first was China’s Tsinghua University, followed by the National University of Singapore and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in second and third, respectively.
The Washington Post reports that the “Best Global Universities” ranking formula differs from the site’s domestic variables. While they use data from Thomson Reuters InCities, factors such as academic reputation surveys, academic publishing, paper citations, international collaborations and doctoral degrees are all used in determining the final university placements on the list.
However, factors such as undergraduate admission selectivity, and the number of students who complete their degree, are not taken into account.
