Asia is home to more young universities than any other part of the world. Of these universities, six in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan stand out. In less than 50 years, these universities have earned top spots in the regional, global, and young university rankings.
Nanyang Technical University, Singapore (NTU)
Singapore is an education powerhouse so it’s no surprise that NTU, founded in 1981, has been ranked the world’s best young university for the last five years. NTU is a research-intensive public university with a current enrollment of 33,000. The university boasts Singapore’s largest and top-rated business school and a medical school set up jointly with Imperial College London. NTU’s campus is frequently listed among the world’s most beautiful university campuses and aims to be the greenest campus in the world by 2022. They also have campus cats!
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has around 14,000 students and one-third of them come from abroad. Founded in 1991, the university offers degree programs in business, management, humanities, and social sciences in addition to science and engineering. HKUST graduates are highly employable and the university ranked first in greater China in the 2017 Global University Employability Ranking. The university also boasts the most comprehensive student exchange program in Asia.
KAIST
KAIST was established as Korea’s first research-oriented science and engineering institution in 1971. Since then it has grown to become Korea’s best university and even cracked the top 50 of the world rankings. While some classes are taught in Korean, the primary language of instruction is English. KAIST offers several dual degree programs in partnership with the Technical University of Berlin, Carnegie Mellon, Technical University of Denmark, and Georgia Institute of Technology among others.
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech)
Taiwan Tech, based in Taipei, was the first technical university in Taiwan. Over 40 years, it has grown to seven colleges: engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, management, design, liberal arts and social sciences, honours, and intellectual property studies. Most classes are taught in Chinese, however there are 17 Master’s and PhD programs that are taught in English. The university’s international student population is growing and now comprises about 8% of the student body, with the majority of international students coming from Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Latin America.
University of Tsukuba
Originally founded as the Normal School in 1872, the University of Tsukuba was reborn in 1973 as a new university based on new educational ideals. The university aims to be an open university in every sense of the word. They have a wide range of degree programs, from pure and applied sciences to art and design to health and sports sciences. Their signature openness even extends to the general public. The university offers short courses in sports, arts, and liberal education for the public as well as teacher training. To promote lifelong learning, University of Tsukuba became the first Japanese university to offer graduate-level courses in the evening for working students.
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) was established in 1993 by the Korean government to meet the country’s need for advanced research and education in sciences and engineering. In 25 short years GIST has climbed the rankings and now sits third in the world for citations per faculty in 2018. The university focuses on applied science and engineering and all students admitted to GIST receive a full scholarship, complimentary accommodation, and supplementary research funds. GIST engages with the community by offering a free science lecture every month for anyone interested in science.