Hong Kong universities have achieved their best-ever performance in the 2027 QS World University Rankings, with five institutions placed among the top 100 and two breaking into the top 20 for the first time. The results, released on June 18, highlight the city's rapid ascent as a global education hub.
The University of Hong Kong maintained its position at 11th worldwide, while The Chinese University of Hong Kong surged 14 places to 18th. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology rose 11 spots to 33rd, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University climbed four places to 50th, entering the top 50 for the first time. City University of Hong Kong also improved, moving up 11 places to 52nd.
In its press release, QS noted that Hong Kong "emerges as Asia's most improved higher education system for the second consecutive year, and the second most improved globally among systems with three or more ranked universities." The rankings reflect improvements in academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio.
A spokesman for Hong Kong's Education Bureau attributed the success to the government's steadfast investment in education and supportive policies. "These achievements fully affirm the effectiveness of the HKSAR Government's steadfast investment in education and its full support through the University Grants Committee for institutions to continuously innovate, optimise, expand capacity, and enhance quality," the spokesman said.
The strong showing aligns with the National 15th Five-Year Plan's strategic goals to build a leading nation in education, technology, and talent. The government has raised the admission ceiling for non-local students in taught programmes to 50% and increased the over-enrolment ceiling for self-financing places in research postgraduate programmes to 120%.
Promoting the "Study in Hong Kong" brand, the Task Force on Study in Hong Kong is expanding outreach on the Chinese Mainland and overseas, including through the Belt and Road Scholarship. The Education Bureau spokesman emphasized that the government will continue to promote internationalization and diversification of post-secondary education, contributing to both Hong Kong's and the nation's development.
Earlier this month, the U.S. News & World Report rankings also showed strong performance, with 20 Hong Kong subjects placing in the global top 10. Notably, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong, and The Education University of Hong Kong swept the top three spots for "Education and Educational Research."
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