University of Hong Kong becomes city’s most improved tertiary institution in latest rankings list by Britain-based firm
- HKU’s dentistry programme climbs one rung to No 2 in the world
- Hong Kong’s top university has fewer subjects among global top 50 than last year, but still outperformed many others in Asia
Rankings of more than half of the subjects at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have improved in a newly published global league, with its dentistry programme securing the No 2 spot.
Britain-based education information firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), which compiled the rankings of 15,200 subjects offered at 1,543 universities worldwide, also noted that HKU had 26 of its programmes listed among the top.
While that number is a drop from 28 in the previous league, the city’s top tertiary institution still outperformed many other universities in Asia.
“The University of Hong Kong’s share of top-50 programmes ensures that it remains the leading local institution and one of Asia’s very finest universities: only five universities across the continent have a higher number,” QS said.
Of the 205 programmes and faculty areas offered at nine local universities ranked by QS, 87 of them – or more than 42 per cent – climbed the rungs. Seventy fell in rankings, 43 remained unchanged, and the remaining five subjects were newly ranked.
The rankings were based on the reputations of the various programmes, rated by more than 100,000 academics and nearly 50,000 employers polled in surveys last year. The subjects’ impact and research citations were among other factors considered.
HKU had the most subjects slipping down the rankings among all local universities last year, but became the most improved institution in the latest edition. Of its 41 subjects rated this time, 23 rose in rankings while 12 dipped.
Its dentistry programme, in particular, climbed one spot to be rated second-best globally. It topped the global list in 2016 to 2018, before dropping to fourth in 2019 and 2020.