Five out of six Vietnamese universities have improved their positions in the QS World University Rankings 2025, released by British organization Quacquarelli Symonds. Duy Tan University in Da Nang ranks the highest among them, moving up 19 places to 495th.

Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City follows, placed in the 711-720 group, a 10-place improvement. Vietnam National University in Hanoi climbed 100 ranks to enter the 851-900 group, while its counterpart in Ho Chi Minh City rose 50 places to the 901-950 group. Hanoi University of Science and Technology and Hue University are both in the top 1400, with Hue University making a notable entry after being unlisted last year.

This year's rankings are the largest ever, featuring over 1,500 universities across 105 higher education systems. The United States leads with 197 institutions, followed by the United Kingdom with 90 and China with 71. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tops the list for the 13th consecutive year, with Imperial College London, Oxford, Harvard, and Cambridge rounding out the top five.

The rankings are based on nine criteria, with academic reputation carrying the most weight at 30 percent, followed by citations per faculty at 20 percent. Duy Tan University and Ton Duc Thang University excelled in these areas, boosting their overall rankings.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, in 2022, Vietnamese universities implemented policies to promote scientific research, dedicating significant portions of their revenues to this activity. Collaborations with domestic and international scientists have also increased their international publications and citation indices.

Nghiem Xuan Huy, head of the Institute for Educational Quality Assurance at Vietnam National University in Hanoi, attributed the university’s 100-place rise to high evaluations in employer reputation and employment outcomes. The university also maintained sustainable growth in international publications and a reasonable faculty/student ratio.