A total of 204 individuals from eight public universities in the city and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts were evaluated, with 91 advancing and 35 declining in rankings. Among them, 51 subjects retained their previous positions, while 27 were newly introduced.
The assessment criteria encompassed five key metrics: academic standing, feedback from 98,000 employer surveys worldwide, research citations per publication, scholarly productivity and impact, and the extent of international research collaboration.
The ranking encompasses over 200 subjects from eight public universities in the city and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. Photo: Fung Chang
The dentistry program at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) maintained its position as the third best globally, while the education sector climbed to seventh place. Chinese University of Hong Kong’s nursing program surged from 16th to eighth place. Conversely, HKU’s social policy and administration program dropped out of the top 10, now ranking 21st.
Last year, the emerging field of data science and artificial intelligence made its debut in the rankings, predominantly led by institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom.
This year, however, four universities in Hong Kong saw their data science and artificial intelligence programs included in the rankings. The program at the University of Science and Technology (UST) secured the 10th spot, surpassing three U.S. universities like Princeton University and one Swiss institution that held top 10 positions last year.
Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President at QS, acknowledged Hong Kong’s prominent position in global higher education but warned about escalating competition.
He highlighted the city’s significant progress in the “employer reputation” metric across the majority of its programs, based on feedback from 98,000 hiring professionals and human resource managers.
Despite this, Sowter noted a decline in the “academic reputation” metric across various subjects, emphasizing the importance of not only conducting impactful research but also disseminating it widely within the academic community and publishing in reputable journals.
On a global scale, U.S. institutions lead in 32 subjects, encompassing disciplines like medicine, business, law, and computer science, maintaining consistency with the previous year’s rankings.
Harvard University emerged as the top-performing institution globally, leading in 15 subjects, followed closely by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which dominates in 11 subjects.
In the United Kingdom, universities excel in 16 subject areas, including education, English, geography, history of art, music, performing arts, and veterinary science. Oxford and Cambridge universities maintained their top positions in four and two subjects, respectively.
QS highlighted China as the third most represented country in the rankings, with Chinese universities excelling in eight subjects globally. Tsinghua University secured the top positions in history of art (5th), civil and structural engineering (6th), and architecture and built environment (8th).
A spokesperson from UST expressed satisfaction with the impressive 10th position of its data science and artificial intelligence program and the recognition of half of its 24 subjects ranking among the top 50 globally.
Thomas Flemmig, Dean of HKU’s dentistry faculty, lauded the outstanding ranking results, emphasizing the program’s consistent top-three position over the past decade, a feat unmatched by any other dental institution worldwide.
A representative from Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) commended the university’s improved rankings across 18 subjects compared to the previous year.