Reasons that Korean universities place differently on QS, THE arts and humanities rankings
Published: 31 Mar. 2026, 15:43
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- LEE TAE-HEE
- [email protected]
![Hankuk University of Foreign Studies students listen to interdisciplinary courses in AI, languages and social sciences. [HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/31/1de8d646-a1ae-4678-8422-efd66e6e9052.jpg)
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies students listen to interdisciplinary courses in AI, languages and social sciences. [HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES]
This year's Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE) subject rankings for arts and humanities both feature familiar names, including Seoul National University and Yonsei University, that represent Korea's highest-ranked institutions, but there are a few universities that perform very differently on the two lists.
THE releases its subject rankings in January, while QS did so last Wednesday.
Looking at just the arts and humanities, Seoul National University was the highest-ranked Korean university on both lists, placing 59th for QS and in the 151st to 175th range for THE.
Yonsei University placed 75th for QS and in the 176th to 200th range for THE. Likewise, KAIST was also in the 176th to 200th range for THE, but the university was not named by QS for the 2026 cycle.
The QS and THE contain more major differences for their arts and humanities rankings.
For example, Korea University is the third-highest Korean institution for QS at 96th, but Sungkyunkwan University holds that spot for THE by coming in the 201st to 250th range. Meanwhile, Korea University ties for Korea's fourth-highest university for THE, ranking in the 301st to 400th range, while Sungkyunkwan falls to sixth-highest for QS at 242nd.
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), which is the fifth-highest Korean university for QS at 218th, is not even mentioned by THE.
To help students decipher the two rankings, the Korea JoongAng Daily breaks down notable contrasting performances and what may have led to such differences.
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
![Hankuk University of Foreign Studies hosts the foreign languages education promotion ambassador forum on April 30, 2021. [HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/31/1b8fd151-4fe4-4d6e-89f1-b234ed6e5c06.jpg)
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies hosts the foreign languages education promotion ambassador forum on April 30, 2021. [HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES]
While HUFS is the fifth-highest Korean university for QS's arts and humanities ranking, there is no sign of the university in THE's placement.
HUFS may be placed on QS's list but not THE's because the university has higher scores in indicators, such as academic reputation, to which QS gives more weight.
For QS, academic reputation is its most considered factor at 60 percent, followed by employer reputation at 20 percent. HUFS has an academic reputation score of 71.7 points, which is even higher than the 69.1 points given to Hanyang University, QS's fourth-highest Korean university.
While THE also considers a university's academic reputation, it prioritizes research, with research reputation being its most considered factor at 30 percent, followed by teaching reputation at 25.3 percent.
HUFS has long been Korea's renowned institution for languages and regional studies. It offers majors in 45 foreign languages — the most for any university in the country.
HUFS has also been selected for many government projects. It was one of the three universities to take part in the critical foreign languages education promotion program, which began in 2018 to teach foreign languages that Korea needs more businesspeople and diplomats to know. HUFS is responsible for teaching 21 out of the 35 designated languages.
"The recent QS arts and humanities list is significant because it shows how we strengthened our competitiveness in various academic fields and rose in the rankings," said Jeong Seok-oh, the head of the university's Office of Planning and Coordination. "We will continue to expand our global research network and create interdisciplinary programs."
Korea and Sungkyunkwan University
![Korea University representatives take a photo to celebrate the opening of the Research Institute of Humanities Convergence's Center for Digital Humanities on Aug. 30, 2022. [KOREA UNIVERSITY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/31/ccd81931-706f-4537-8537-f8f5320bf526.jpg)
Korea University representatives take a photo to celebrate the opening of the Research Institute of Humanities Convergence's Center for Digital Humanities on Aug. 30, 2022. [KOREA UNIVERSITY]
Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University fought to be the third-highest ranked Korean university in the arts and humanities, with Korea University taking the spot for QS and Sungkyunkwan University doing the same for THE.
In THE's rankings, Korea University closely follows as the fourth-highest Korean university, but Sungkyunkwan University places sixth on QS's list.
One reason behind Korea University ranking slightly more highly for QS may be its employer reputation score. Employer reputation has a 20 percent weight for QS, but THE does not have a similar indicator.
QS gave the university 74.8 points for employer reputation — a higher score than that of the second-highest Korean university, Yonsei University, which had 71.7 points for that criterion.
Similarly, Sungkyunkwan University's lag can be explained by its receiving 68.8 points for QS's most important indicator: academic reputation. That figure is lower than the 72.3 points given to Ewha Womans University, which follows Sungkyunkwan as the seventh-highest Korean university for QS.
But Sungkyunkwan University stands out in research-related indicators. For QS's arts and humanities ranking, the university earned 75.1 points for citations per paper and 70.9 points for the H-Index, which measures research productivity and impact. Both numbers are higher than those of HUFS, which ranked more highly than Sungkyunkwan but only received 69.6 points for citations per paper and 62.2 for the H-Index.
However, these indicators carry limited weight in QS, each given a 7.5 percent weight.
While Sungkyunkwan University's QS performance may appear weak, its strengths in research-related areas translate more effectively in THE’s ranking. For THE, research reputation accounts for 30 percent, citation impact for 7.5 percent, research income for 3.6 percent, research productivity for 3.6 percent and research influence for 2.5 percent.
BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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