The 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings saw China leading the rise of Asia with regard to university education. Out of 1,250 worldwide universities, 72 Chinese institutions made it to the list. This number is a significant improvement from 63 in 2017.
The result of the ranking indicates that the manner of teaching in China's 10 leading universities is now comparable to education institutions in the United Kingdom and Germany. THE's data also shows that Chinese universities' research capabilities are higher than their counterparts in France and Australia.
The most notable for China in this year's result is for one of its universities topping all of the Asian universities included in the list. This is the first time that a Chinese university is able to make the achievement since 2011.
The honor goes to Tsinghua University in Beijing which has overtaken the National University of Singapore as the leading university in Asia. Tsinghua jumps eight places and ranks 22nd while Singapore's NUS dropped at number 23. NUS led the Asian universities from 2016 to 2018 while the University of Tokyo reigned from 2011 to 2015.
In its announcement, THE said Tsinghua's rise was significantly driven by its teaching capabilities as reflected in its institutional income and the share of Ph.D. degrees awarded.
Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, said he was not surprised about Tsinghua's achievement. He said the university tops the world's citation in research in mathematics and computing, moving well ahead of the United States. The university is also leading research in physical sciences and engineering.
Tsinghua, with its world-class quality of education, charges modest tuition fees of about $4,360 a year and $4 to $12 for lodging in a single room.
Tsinghua has also overtaken Peking University for the first time in terms of global ranking.
Zhejiang University also performed impressively, climbing 76 places to 101st. THE said the university scored higher this year in categories such as teaching pillar, research income, research volume, industry income and proportion of international students.
Shenzen's Southern University of Science and Technology is included in THE's World University Rankings for the first time. SUSTech has only been seven years in operation but has managed to position itself as a world-class university, THE said.
Meanwhile, Oxford University remains at number 1 while Cambridge remains at number two in the overall worldwide ranking.
The United Kingdom, however, was overtaken by Japan as the second most represented nation. There are 103 Japanese universities in the list, up from 89 last year. THE said the United Kingdom has generally displayed stagnation and a modest decline in its education sector.
