six vietnamese universities drop in asian rankings

eleven vietnamese universities made it into the times higher education 2026 asian university rankings, an increase of two from last year, but most experienced a decline in their positions.

The Times Higher Education (THE) organization announced its 2026 Asian university rankings on 23/4.

Vietnam has eleven representatives on the list. Da Nang University and Nguyen Tat Thanh University are new entrants this year, securing spots in the 501-600 and 801+ bands, respectively.

Despite the increased number of Vietnamese universities, six of the nine institutions ranked last year experienced a drop in their positions. The University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) continued to lead the Vietnamese contingent, but fell from 136th last year to 184th this year.

The three remaining universities, Duy Tan University, Hanoi Medical University, and Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, maintained their previous rankings.

The rankings of Vietnamese universities in Asia are as follows:

University	2025 Ranking	2026 Ranking
University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City	136	184
Ton Duc Thang University	201-250	251-300
Duy Tan University	251-300	251-300
Hanoi Medical University	401-500	401-500
Nguyen Tat Thanh University	-	501-600
Hanoi University of Science and Technology	501-600	601-800
Ho Chi Minh City Open University	501-600	601-800
Vietnam National University, Hanoi	501-600	601-800
Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City	601+	601-800
Hue University	601+	801+
Da Nang University	-	801+

THE is one of the three largest global university ranking organizations, alongside QS and Shanghai Ranking. Universities are evaluated based on 18 criteria, categorized into five groups: research quality (30%), research environment (28%), teaching (24,5%), knowledge transfer income and funding attraction (10%), and international outlook (7,5%). The number of criteria and their weightings are consistent with last year.

Among Vietnamese institutions, the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City excelled in research quality, achieving over 88 out of 100 points. Hanoi Medical University continued to demonstrate strong teaching quality compared to other universities, scoring more than 38 out of 100 points.

This year's Asian university rankings feature 929 institutions from 36 countries and territories. China's Tsinghua University and Peking University secured the top two positions for the seventh consecutive year. China dominated the top 10, claiming seven spots, while Singapore had two representatives and Japan one.

This marks the first time a Yemeni university has been ranked. Additionally, Malaysia saw a university enter the top 40 for the first time and doubled its representation in the top 100 compared to last year.