TAIPEI (TVBS News) — National Taiwan University, National Tsinghua University, and National Chiao Tung University are many Taiwanese students' first choices when it comes to higher education.
According to the 2023 World University Rankings released by Times Higher Education, however, the rankings of these top universities dropped by more than 70 places, setting a record for the largest drop ever.
Take National Taiwan University as an example. In 2020, it was ranked 66th and 97th in the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, respectively.
Over the past two years, however, the situation has changed. National Taiwan University ranked 187 on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, down 74 places from the previous year. It also dropped 11 places on the Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News, coming in at the 203rd spot, the first time it ranked above the 200th position.
National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and National Tsinghua University, also fell from the 207th and 136th position on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings to the 512th and 522nd spot.
"The index for Times Higher Education World University Ranking has as many as 13 indicators, including teaching and the globalization aspect," said Hou Yung-chi, deputy dean of the College of Education, National Chengchi University.
The number of citations is also a key indicator for these rankings, and accounts for 30% of the total score. Although the number of citations for NTU's papers has increased, the increase is not as large compared to other universities in the world.
"In education, if you don't advance, you don't make improvements. You may think: my performance this year is a little bit better than last year. But maybe, the tens of thousands of other institutions in the world may be improving several times more than you," he added.
Another likely reason for the drop in rankings is that scholars in Taiwan seldom seek international cooperation when it comes to their research. In the past, there was an emphasis on independent research during the professors' reviews. Such emphasis, however, could also reduce opportunities for international cooperation.
As the competition for higher education worldwide remains fierce, Taiwan needs to take a look at this year's rankings, and really focus on the areas that need improvement, in order to make sure the universities do not drop in rankings even more in the following years.