4 universities in Hong Kong fall in global ranking of top 100 institutions, reversing last year’s general upwards trend
- HKU drops four spots from 31st to 35th this year in Times Higher Education list
- City University, Baptist University are the only local campuses that have continued to move up entire list covering more than 1,900 institutions
Four universities in Hong Kong have slipped in a global ranking of the top 100 tertiary institutions compiled by a prominent British-based publication, marking a reversal of a general upwards trend for local campuses last year.
The annual ranking, published by Times Higher Education on Wednesday and covering more than 1,900 institutions across 108 countries and regions, also showed that locally only City University (CityU) had risen in the top 100 section of the list compared with last year.
The publication said the drop in the listings among the city’s universities was partly due to an increase in the number of institutions taking part, rising from 1,799 last year.
The four universities also suffered slight decreases in their teaching reputation, student-to-staff ratios and international collaboration, it added.
“Ultimately, the ranking drop is mostly caused by the drop in reputation as this metric has the largest weight among the three,” it said. “Drops in student-staff ratio and international co-authorship might be caused by the border closures due to Covid.”
The University of Hong Kong (HKU), the city’s oldest tertiary institution, fell four spots from 31st last year to 35th, ranking the highest among all local campuses.
A HKU spokesman said the university was confident its international reputation would continue to flourish and committed itself to offering an exceptional education to students.