NUS is top ranked Asian university

SINGAPORE - One Singapore university has become the highest ranked in Asia and another the fastest rising, in world university rankings. The National University of Singapore (NUS) is the top Asian institution in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings. It moved up one place to 24th and was placed in the top-10 for academic reputation.

The QS rankings evaluates more than 800 universities based on academic and employer reputation, citations per faculty, faculty-student ratio and proportions of international students and international faculty.

In the 2013/2014 rankings, NUS was placed ninth in the world for academic reputation and 16th for employer reputation. It improved in the number of research papers published and citations generated.

NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan said of the ranking: "This is a reflection of our country's strong support for higher education and the ethos of continually seeking excellence, and hence is a very positive development for the whole of Singapore."

Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which is also in the top 50, is the fastest rising Asian institution in the rankings. It moved up six spots from last year to make it to 41st place.

NTU has now moved up 33 places over the last three years.

NTU president Bertil Andersson said: "This is fantastic for NTU and Singapore. It is remarkable that Singapore, a small city-state has two universities among the world's top 41."

Most of the universities in the Top 50 are established names, an NTU statement said. "NTU stands out as the 'new kid on the block' when compared to the likes of Harvard, Cambridge and even NUS, which has more than 100 years of history."

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