Korea's Engineering Schools Lose Luster

The global ranking of top universities in Korea is dropping because of fewer research exchanges with foreign talents and a lack of investment in research.

In the annual World University Rankings by Subject for this year released by Quacquarelli Symonds of the U.K. on Tuesday, only seven Korean universities made it into the world's top 20, compared to 15 last year.

The rankings evaluated some 1,200 universities in 78 countries in chemical, civil and structural, electrical, mechanical and mineral and mining engineering.

Last year, KAIST ranked in the top 20 in areas like chemical engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering, but this year it dropped out of the top 20 in all these areas. Seoul National University ranked in the top 10 in chemical engineering and mechanical engineering last year but also dropped out of the top 20 this year.

QS said Korean universities have failed to make sufficient investments due to financial difficulties over the past years, while global universities in the U.S., China, Singapore, and Switzerland are doing innovative research in a variety of subject areas.