Nine Vietnamese universities make global rankings 2025

A classroom in the University of Economics Hồ Chí Minh City. — VNA/VNS Photo

THE released its 2025 global rankings on Wednesday, with nine universities from Việt Nam making the list, three more than in the previous year.

The University of Economics Hồ Chí Minh City debuted in the rankings, securing the highest position among the nine, placing in the 501-600 bracket.

Duy Tân University and Tôn Đức Thắng University, which previously led the rankings for Vietnamese institutions, experienced slight drops but maintained their positions in the 601-800 bracket.

New entries this year include Hà Nội Medical University, ranked between 801 and 1,000 and Hồ Chí Minh City Open University, placed in the 1,201-1,500 range.

This marks a significant achievement for the latter, which was previously listed as a 'reporter' institution, meaning it had provided data but did not meet the ranking criteria in 2024.

Other Vietnamese universities featured in the rankings include Việt Nam National University Hà Nội (1,201-1,500), Hà Nội University of Science and Technology (1,501+), Huế University (1,501+), and Việt Nam National University, Hồ Chí Minh City (1,501+).

Văn Lang University was listed as a 'reporter' this year.

The University of Oxford in the UK retained its top spot for the ninth consecutive year, breaking Harvard University’s previous record of eight years at number one.

Oxford’s scores continue to improve significantly, particularly in areas related to income, research quality and teaching quality. Its proportion of international students also stands out.

In the US, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the highest-ranked university, placing second with a total score of 98.1, just 0.4 point behind Oxford.

Stanford University unexpectedly dropped from second to sixth place, its lowest ranking since 2010, due to declines in teaching quality, research environment, and international outlook scores.

Harvard University moved up from fourth to third place, while Princeton University rose from sixth to fourth.

In the top 20, Asia has three representatives: Tsinghua University (12th), Peking University (13th) and the National University of Singapore (17th).

Tsinghua University maintained its position, while Peking University and the National University of Singapore each rose by one and two spots, respectively.

Globally, the 2025 THE rankings evaluated 2,092 universities from 115 countries and regions. The ranking system uses 18 indicators across five key areas: the teaching environment, research environment and quality, international outlook, and knowledge transfer.