Best Rated Universities

Oct 15th, 2008, in News, by

UniversityThree Indonesian institutions make it into the top 500 world’s best universities list.

Put out by the Times Higher Education and QS World University Ranking a ranking of the 500 best universities worldwide has Indonesia represented by: topuniversities.com

2009

  • University of Indonesia (UI) – 201st
  • Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) – not known
  • Gajah Mada University (UGM) – not known

2008

  • University of Indonesia (UI) – 287th
  • Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) – 315th
  • Gajah Mada University (UGM) – 316th

2007:

  • University of Indonesia (UI) – 395th
  • Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) – 369th
  • Gajah Mada University (UGM) – 360th

Universities from Indonesia that were assessed but failed to make the cut:

  • Airlangga University
  • Bogor Agricultural University
  • University of Brawijaya
  • Diponegoro University

A spokesman for UI, Devie Rahmawati, said she was very proud of the 2008 results, and it was a great gift for the whole country for UI to be named in the list, especially since the timing coincided with Hari Sumpah Pemuda, or Youth Pledge Day. antara

Results for Indonesia’s nearest and dearest ASEAN neighbours in 2008:

  • National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore – 30th
  • Nanyang Technological University, Singapore – 77th
  • Chulalongkorn University, Thailand – 166th
  • Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia – 230th
  • Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia – 250th
  • Mahidol University, Thailand – 251st
  • Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines – 254th
  • University of the Philippines, Philippines – 276th
  • Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia – 313th
  • Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia – 320th
  • Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia – 356th
  • Kasetsart University, Thailand – 400th

The scoring for the survey is done 50% on mechanical calculations of such things as proportion of foreign students and faculty, teacher student ratio, number of research citations, etc, while the other 50% is based on peer and employer reviews.


75 Comments on “Best Rated Universities”

  1. Andy says:

    And as for the rest, The USA dominates the list with most of the top 50 places, Australia with it’s ‘miniscule’ population and according to some importance has one in the top 100 and as mentioned above Singapore has one at 77, Thailand 166, Malaysia 230, and the Philippines at 254. But Indonesia with the fourth largest population in the world comes in at ….wait for it….287.

    Now why don’t these figures surprise me.

  2. syed putra says:

    This award is biased towards english speaking universities. How else can you explain lack of Universities from europe and japan on the list. Some universities/lecturers can’t be bothered to entertain staff from The Times as they have too much to do.

  3. Andy says:

    syed putra, they’re featured if you bother to look at the list. Japan features quite prominently. However the English speaking world has an upper hand, like it or not, as the USA is the world’s largest economy with the EU second.

  4. TheWrathOfGrapes says:

    Andy, Singapore has two – NUS at 30, and NTU at 77.

  5. Andy says:

    sorry thanks for the correction

  6. Rob says:

    Interesting that Universitas Pelita Harapan was not assessed.

    If the Globe Asia survey of early this year is to be believed then UPH is the second best university in Indonesia. If this is true then it would be ranked above ITB and UGM.

    I blogged about this back in March, April, and June.

    Andy…

    Anything that can be used to paint Indonesia in a negative light will be music to your ears. These results do not surprise me either. However, the results say a lot more about funding of universities and their ability to attract quality people than it does about the commitment of educators and educational institutions to improve their services and the outcomes that result.

    Over time Indonesian universities will rank more prominently in lists such as these. They might never be in the top one or two, perhaps not even in the top ten, but then again when was an Australian uni last ranked in the top 10?

    Hopefully, for you Andy you are not around to experience the day when the English speaking world no longer has the “upper hand” or the biggest economies. If you are, then your world might just come crashing down around your ears.

  7. Patrick says:

    @ Rob and Andy – It’s time to form an American style College Football team in Indonesia to solve the funding problem. Think of the TV revenue generated when the “Fighting Irish” of Notre Dame play the likes of the University of Indonesia’s “Future Corrupters”. Great entertainment and I think even PN would approve as he no doubt would be given a plum job as Head of Security and ticket sales. Bet he would rave about American football as the greatest game ever if that happened!

  8. Rob says:

    Cannot speak for PN but my guess is that he might not approve.

    “future corruptors”, doesn’t say much for the education one receives at UI 😀

  9. Daniel S says:

    Andy, Australia actually has 7 in the top 100 (6 in the top 50) rather than only 1 as you mentioned.

  10. rima says:

    As an alumni of UI, it’s nice to see it up there.

    Perhaps we are still way down on the list because our teachers/lecturers aren’t appreciated like they should?

    Many of our bright young (or older) minds prefer to work or lecture elsewhere as they are greatly appreciated there. I read somewhere that one of the youngest professors in the US (with a funny name) is Indonesian.

    In any case, it’s good to see that our universities are climbing up the list, who knows, maybe in several years it will match universities from our neighboring countries..

  11. Rima: sadly I have to agree with you. I was told the other day that some private high school teachers outside Java, which is considered the most prestigious one in the city, are only paid 2 million rupiahs a month. How could we expect our teachers and lecturers dedicate their lives and minds for their students if they can’t pay electricity bills?

    I’ve heard our neighbour, Singapore, systematically attracts (pinch) bright young students and offer them lots of benefits to stay and teach there even when they were still students. Maybe our uni should adopt such approach?

    Rob: but aren’t we supposed to look at not only the universities, but also each major/faculty? For example, if I want to study economics, I’d probably go to King’s College even though it’s only in 22, rather than Cambridge?

  12. Rob says:

    FW…

    Yep!

  13. Patrick says:

    I went to 1 of the top Business schools in the USA and so what? My brother was accepted into King’s College for an Advanced degree in International law as he graduated from one of the top Schools of Law in the USA and again so what? This is the silliest discussion ever as it’s what you do with your life and not the school you graduated from that should count. Just good old boy & now girl snobbery here along with name dropping to show how well heeled you are and that is as shallow as one of Lairedion intellectual postings or should I say rants! LOL!

    What I am-Edie Bricknell

    …Philosophy, is the talk on a cereal box

    Religion, is a smile on a dog

    I’m not aware of too many things

    i know what I know if you know what I mean

    Chuck me in the shallow water

    Before I get too deep….

  14. Rob says:

    Patrick…

    I agree. It is what you do with your life that matters more than the school you went to. Nevertheless, these things, such as the school you went to are important to some people.

    It is like valuing a piece of paper over experience. Silly, but it happens!

  15. It still matters for most companies in Indonesia, anyway. It’s a quick way to ‘judge’ how ‘smart’ you are. If you’re UI graduate, for example, there’s a bigger chance for you to get a job rather than if you are from a lesser prestigious university.

    Although there’s always a case where prestigious (overseas) graduates start the work in the new company and couldn’t even operate a Microsoft Excel, as it happened in my previous workplace.

    As Rob says, it’s silly but it happens.

  16. rima says:

    Again, did I miss something here? Were we discussing something else other than how sad it is that Indonesian universities aren’t up there with the rest of the neighboring countries’ universities?

    Finally Woken: Yes, which school you go to matters not only to Indonesian companies but a lot of others in other countries. I have a friend who went to Harvard business school and even before she graduated, she was head-hunted by several fortune 500 companies. Lucky her!

    As for me, although UI is still in the pathetic rank of 287, I am still proud to have been experienced studying there. Back then it was cheap to go there, and I met a lot of people from various cultural backgrounds, very rich people to very poor people. It was nice to have various friends from various social strata, also taught me to be more humble.. 🙂

  17. Enigmatic says:

    syed putra Says:

    October 15th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
    This award is biased towards english speaking universities. How else can you explain lack of Universities from europe and japan on the list. Some universities/lecturers can’t be bothered to entertain staff from The Times as they have too much to do

    I think it’s because of the high proportion of foreign students in Australian, US and UK universities. And Singaporean ones too.

    Solution: Buck up so that foreign students would be willing to come here to do tertiary education.

    Personal Note: I’m considering the top 10 Unis in the world when I go to college in like 2-3 years time. Especially Cambridge and Oxford. It’s 1 yr shorter so I get to work more soon. Oh well.

  18. Enigmatic says:

    But thanks Patung for the link. Education is a good indicator of a country’s progress and Indonesia’s low rankings show that it is still underachieving.

    And it helped me decide my college to some extent.

    thanks once again.

  19. TheWrathOfGrapes says:

    Especially Cambridge and Oxford. It’s 1 yr shorter so I get to work more soon. Oh well.

    Enigmatic – try to go up to Cambridge – you will love it there…

  20. Jeames says:

    Some interesting comments:

    “Australia with it’s ‘miniscule’ population and according to some importance has one in the top 100”

    Yep; and without Indonesian foreign students paying 5 times more than the locals do; Aussie unis would be mere shacks with blackboards.

    “Bet he would rave about American football as the greatest game ever if that happened!”

    American football teams, Aussie rules football teams and Aussie universities have one thing in common…only 1 person in a few hundred million worldwide can name one of them!

  21. Purba Negoro says:

    Andy is plainly neither a university graduate and at very best the dunce of the School of Hard Knox.

    The Times. Who can blame the Murdoch Tepid Times, once a respected Newspaper, now little more than a tarted up Daily Mail for semi-literates (Andy still ogles the Sun, but passers by are too kindhearted to point out it’s upside down).

    Monash. My son is an alumni- it was worse than rubbish.
    UI is far harder.

    60%+ Chinese with almost no functional English, 30%+ Indians all fraternising outside their arranged marriages back home, less than 5% white faces.
    Ruthlessly sacking any tepid lecturer daring fail a student, or speak out about international fees quotas, substandard English, slumping standards and blatant plagiarism.
    I had a good friend sacked from Monash- he was kicked out with even the threat of libel. devoted 15 years of his life to acclaimed original research in the name of Monash and they couldn’t be quicker done with him.
    Why? Chinese Fees for degrees please! It’s Fagin’s new motto.
    Got to pick a pretty pocket..

    But what does poor Pak Marhaeni know, compared to the grand arbiters of morality, wisdom and truth and bearers of White Man’s Burden?

    Pelita Harapan. That was hilarious Rob. Very very droll with a touch of camp.
    Tell another please.

    What does one graduate with?
    Bachelor of Cell Phone kiosk?
    Econometrics for Circle K owners?
    Applied Carpetbaggery?
    Psuedoscience

    Masters of MLM?

    Tell us another droll tale of the other dreadful pretend University filled with our beloved hostile ethnics- Universitas Presiden?

    No relation to John Cleese or the writer of Yes Minister Jonathon Lynn, are you Rob?

  22. Patrick says:

    @ Jeames – Judging by the success that the NFL (American football) has had, attracting fans, while staging games in Mexico (largest crowd in NFL history more than 103,000), Japan & Britain (90,000 seats sold in only 90 minutes) I would say your figures are wrong. The last Super Bowl was aired in over 230 countries and maybe you live in a country that missed out? Pity you! By the way approximately 100 players are now foreign born and since their are only 32 teams they all cannot be kickers!

    @ Bapak ,Patung if you want to move these football items to the thread where they belong, fine by me. Thanks!

  23. Andy says:

    Jeames contradicted him / herself by firstly saying Indonesians pay huge fees to study at Aussie unis then secondly saying the world doesn’t know them. Well yes, Indonesians with money will go abroad to both study and get decent health care and there lies the problem. They simply must improve the conditions in their own country so those who can afford will put more money into the system.
    And Rob, yes I criticised them yet again but without criticism, how are they ever meant to improve? It is this denial and unwillingness to accept criticism from outside sources that is their undoing.

    Also Jeames, what are you trying to say about sports? Are you another of these people who believe that because soccer has a bigger following then it must be a better game? The most popular shows on TV (worldwide) are the crappiest of reality shows so I hardly think bums on seats is a gauge. I’m Australian and didn’t grow up with either American Football (gridiron) or soccer but will say American Football is a better game by a long shot. More strategy and toughness.

  24. Farah says:

    It still matters for most companies in Indonesia, anyway. It’s a quick way to ‘judge’ how ’smart’ you are. If you’re UI graduate, for example, there’s a bigger chance for you to get a job rather than if you are from a lesser prestigious university.

    Although there’s always a case where prestigious (overseas) graduates start the work in the new company and couldn’t even operate a Microsoft Excel, as it happened in my previous workplace.

    As Rob says, it’s silly but it happens.

    Can’t agree more… its true.. where i work theres a girl from IPB, she barely know MS Office, and internet also speak and understand very less english.
    I think IPB is one of those well known university (at least i heard its harder to get there)
    Went to well known university doesn’t mean know everything. But sure… big companies prefer someone from UI or other java university 🙂

  25. Patrick says:

    Hey Farah baby its been awile! – Right and I understand the point your making and probably everyone understands the point your making and that point been pointed and pointed here at this thread! In fact the point has been well understood before we were all born! And that’s why it’s ludicrous to continue this discussion as no one will disagree with the point. Do you understand my point or do you think we should continue pointing out the obvious point even further? Thats my point all along! : > )

    @ Still giving you lots of love Farah!

  26. Farah says:

    @ Patrick
    Sure, i do understand your point bright and clear. I just saying i agree with what finally woken said, thats all. And… sound wrong to do that now.

    Theres rules to write comment now ? what should i write and not ? eh???

    Love you too sweety….

  27. Patrick says:

    @ Farah – Touche’ baby as you always so damn logical! I yield to the 1st Lady of IM!.

  28. raden says:

    C’mon guys, this is not achievement to be proud, our univ are older than those mentioned from Sgp, Msia, Thailand. How can we proud off behind them?

  29. sputjam says:

    Maybe it makes more sense to hire the best lecturers and researchers into Indonesia, and make the students pay say 50% of what it would cost to study overseas, then to drain the country of its vital cash, by sending students abroad.
    That way, the best creative and young talent gets to implement their know how locally, subject to the govenrment department accepting their new ideas.

  30. Andy says:

    Well there you have it. The people of this forum have a clear choice. They can believe the rankings of the Times Higher Education and QS World University Ranking or the rantings of our good mate Purba. I’m with the former. He says UI is better than Monash. I don’t know as I only downloaded the top 100 which no Indonesian university made. I found Melbourne uni amongst that list plus National uni in Canberra. But that is not the point. Again, for those who either can’t read or choose to disect my blogs line for line while not addressing my main point Indonesian unis lack something or they would be in higher up the list. I don’t wish to have a go at them but wouldn’t Indonesians rather spend their government budgets trying to keep the rich from studying overseas? Makes economic sense to me. Spin and BS only gets people so far.

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