Comparing QS and THE Korean university rankings for engineering
Published: 31 Mar. 2026, 15:36
Updated: 31 Mar. 2026, 18:07
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- LEE TAE-HEE
- [email protected]
![Students at Pohang University of Science and Engineering's Department of Convergence IT Engineering conduct research at the university's Meta Maker Space. [POHANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/31/cf9aa9b7-97c3-48a5-a020-73fed3846d5d.jpg)
Students at Pohang University of Science and Engineering's Department of Convergence IT Engineering conduct research at the university's Meta Maker Space. [POHANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY]
This year's subject rankings from higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released last Wednesday following the release of those from higher education British magazine Times Higher Education (THE) in January. Comparing the two rankings, stark differences can be observed in the engineering field.
In terms of engineering offerings, Seoul National University was the highest-ranked Korean university for QS's engineering and technology subject ranking at 24th. KAIST was the highest Korean university in THE's engineering ranking at 32nd, followed by Seoul National University at 38th. While KAIST is a strong engineering school, the university was not named by QS for the 2026 cycle.
Korea University and Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech) are tied as the second-highest Korean university in QS's engineering and technology ranking, placing 67th.
But in THE engineering rankings, Postech falls at the fifth-highest Korean university at 69th and Korea University the sixth-highest at 87th.
Hanyang University was the fourth-highest Korean university in QS's ranking at 102nd, but also sat at the seventh-highest in THE's ranking, appearing in the 126th to 150th range.
To help students decipher the two rankings, the Korea JoongAng Daily breaks down notable contrasting performances and what may have led to such differences.
Postech and Korea University
![Pohang University of Science and Technology's campus in Pohang, North Gyeongsang [POHANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/31/6da0ab89-aa63-43e2-9031-858a675ac37a.jpg)
Pohang University of Science and Technology's campus in Pohang, North Gyeongsang [POHANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY]
Postech and Korea University both do well on QS's engineering and technology ranking, tied as Korea's second-highest university.
Even when assuming KAIST — traditionally the highest and placing 24th in QS's engineering and technology rankings for 2025 — may have pushed the two universities down if it was featured in this year's QS rankings, they are still placed higher than their THE engineering rankings placements. Postech was the fifth-highest Korean university for THE's engineering ranking, and Korea University the sixth-highest.
One reason for Korea University's higher performance in the QS rankings can be attributed to its international research network.
International research network constitutes 10 percent of the score in QS's engineering and technology rankings, a metric in which Korea University received 62.2 points. The figure is higher than Seoul National University's 61.1 points and Postech's 55.3 points.
THE's engineering ranking uses a similar indicator — international co-authorship — although the metric is only given a 2.5 percent weight.
Since 2023, Korea University has been encouraging international research collaborations through K-CLUB. Over 80 international researchers are part of K-CLUB, allowing them to list Korea University as their affiliated institution when publishing papers.
This also gives the university a better chance to climb QS's engineering and technology ranking, as 10 percent of rank score is determined by the citations per paper and a further 10 percent for H-Index citations, which measures productivity and impact of published papers.
THE also has research indicators such as those related to research reputation, research income or research strength. but citation impact is given a 13.7 percent weight and research productivity a 4 percent weight.
While K-CLUB aims to facilitate joint research, there have been concerns that many K-CLUB researchers aren't physically based in Korea for research and teaching.
However, Korea University clarified via statement on Monday that the program encourages flexibility through remote research and online seminars, also adding that "it is becoming increasingly common in the global academic community for distinguished researchers to hold multiple affiliations with the approval of their primary institution."
Postech is another university that performs well in the QS standings, notable in the academic reputation metric, which is given the biggest weight at 40 percent of rank score. The university gets 82.3 points for academic reputation, higher than Korea University's 77.3 points.
While THE also considers a university's academic reputation, it prioritizes research, with research reputation being its most considered factor at 21 percent of each score, followed by teaching reputation at 19.5 percent.
Hanyang University and Sungkyunkwan University
![A clean room used by Hanyang University's Department of Semiconductor Engineering [HANYANG UNIVERSITY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/31/c2eced5a-a006-48f8-aecb-27d310d9f5ac.jpg)
A clean room used by Hanyang University's Department of Semiconductor Engineering [HANYANG UNIVERSITY]
Hanyang University performs well in QS's engineering and technology subject ranking as Korea's fourth-highest institution, but falls at seventh-highest for THE's engineering ranking.
While Sungkyunkwan University follows Hanyang University in QS rankings as the fifth-highest institution, for THE, it places bit higher as the fourth-highest.
One metric that Hanyang University stands out for is international research network. The university was given 62.5 points for the indicator, while Sungkyunkwan University was given 56.2.
While it is natural for a lower-ranked university to get less points, a 6.3 point gap is larger than the disparities seen in other indicators. For academic reputation, Hanyang leads Sungkyunkwan by 4 points at 76.5, while the gaps are narrower in employer reputation at 1.6 points, H-Index citations at 1.5 points and citations per paper at 0.9 points.
Aiming to facilitate international partnerships, Hanyang University has a funding program that offers research grants to its faculty working on research projects with overseas researchers. Yoo Ho-cheon, professor at the Department of Electronic Engineering, exemplifies the university's push for such partnership and research, having been awarded an Outstanding Contribution Award for International Cooperation by the Ministry of Science and ICT in 2025 for active joint research with institutions in Europe, North America, Japan and China.
Sungkyunkwan University stood out in THE's teaching indicator, which encompasses metrics such as teaching reputation and student-to-staff ratio.
For THE's engineering ranking, Sungkyunkwan received 59.2 points for the teaching indicator, while Hanyang's score fell at 38.5.
BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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