UMPSA excels at 153rd best in Asia in QS World University Rankings: Asia 2026

PEKAN, 4 November 2025 – Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) continues to demonstrate its excellence in higher education, ranking among the top 200 universities in Asia, placing 153rd overall and 41st in Southeast Asia, according to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Asia 2026, announced today.

This achievement reflects UMPSA’s continuous commitment to strengthening academic excellence and international reputation, with an improvement from its 159th position last year.

For the 2026 edition, UMPSA is ranked within the top 11% in Asia in the assessment released by the London-based rating agency, Quacquarelli Symonds Limited.

A total of 1,526 universities in Asia were listed in this year’s edition, with 550 of them being new entries.

This proud accomplishment also places UMPSA as the 19th best university in Malaysia and the top institution among the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN) universities.

UMPSA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr. Yatimah Alias, expressed gratitude and pride over this prestigious success.
“This achievement reflects the commitment of the entire university community in strengthening the culture of academic excellence, research, and industry engagement.

“This ranking is the result of continuous efforts by the UMPSA community to enhance academic reputation, expand international collaboration, and increase research impact that benefits society and industry,” she said.

The QS World University Rankings: Asia is a global ranking system that evaluates university performance based on key indicators, including Academic Reputation (30%), Employer Reputation (20%), Faculty Student Ratio (10%), International Research Network (10%), Citations per Paper (10%), Papers per Faculty (5%), Staff with PhD (5%), International Faculty (2.5%), International Students (2.5%), and Inbound and Outbound Exchange Students (2.5% each).

Professor Dr. Yatimah added that this achievement is not only an international recognition of UMPSA’s excellence but also a motivation for the university to continue progressing towards its vision of becoming a world-class, leading technical university by 2030.

“We will continue to strengthen our expertise in the fields of engineering and technology, while expanding social impact on local communities and industries through sustainable and innovative approaches,” she said.

The entire UMPSA community also celebrated this success as tangible proof that UMPSA is increasingly recognised at the regional level, thus elevating Malaysia’s name in the global higher education landscape.

By: Safriza Baharuddin, Centre for Corporate Communications
Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, UMPSA Press