March 13, 2020 13:03
No university in Korea made it into the top 10 in the latest global rankings of universities for the second year running.
U.K. ranking firm Quacquarelli Symonds on Wednesday released its annual World University Rankings by Subject, which evaluated some 1,350 universities in 83 countries. But in the top 50 of 48 different rankings, Korean universities secured a combined 69 spots, up from 61 last year.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped 12 subjects, followed by Harvard University with 11 and the University of Oxford with eight.
Seoul National University ranked 14th in social policy and administration and 17th in modern languages, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology came 17th in electrical and electronic engineering.
Among Asian universities, Singapore universities earned eight spots in the top 10 across all subjects, followed by Chinese universities with five and Hong Kong and Japanese with four each.
The last time a Korean university was included in the top 10 was two years ago, when SNU ranked 10th in sports-related subjects, but it dropped to 12th last year and 22nd this year.
Critics say Korean universities lost competitiveness because their tuition fees have been practically frozen for the last 10 years.
"Due to financial difficulties, universities have been unable to provide sufficient funding for research projects or recruit top-notch professors," an education insider said. An academic said, "Professors publish as many papers as possible to keep their universities' rankings high but classes are confined to lectures. That won't work any longer."
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