UMPSA recognised as 609th Best University in the World in QS WUR, listed among Top 200 THE Impact Rankings

PEKAN, 19 June 2025 – Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) has risen to the 609th position globally in the QS World University Rankings (QS WUR) 2026, recently announced.

This position maintains UMPSA’s standing as the number one best technical university among the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN).

Even more proudly, for the faculty citation indicator, UMPSA ranks second best in Malaysia.

This recognition indicates that research works from the UMPSA’s faculties are of high quality and are frequently referenced in other academic publications.

This ranking is based on the QS WUR 2026 assessment criteria, which include academic reputation, citations per faculty, employer reputation, faculty–student ratio, employment outcomes, international faculty, international research network, international students, and sustainability.

According to UMPSA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr Yatimah Alias, UMPSA is also ranked eighth best in Malaysia for the international research network indicator, which reflects the level of collaborative research involving institutions, universities, or researchers from various countries in producing high-quality research.

“At the same time, UMPSA is also proud of its achievement in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings (THEIR) 2025, where it is placed within the top 101–200 globally, which evaluates the university’s engagement based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the main components assessed being research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching.

“UMPSA also ranks number one in Malaysia and 18th best globally for SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy.

“For the THEIR rating, UMPSA ranks fifth best in Malaysia and first among MTUN,” she said.

She conveyed her congratulations and appreciation to the UMPSA community for this proud achievement in the university’s efforts to address global issues related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters.

“UMPSA will continue to enhance research in sustainable development and green technology as well as strengthen Advanced Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), in line with the university’s aspiration to become the Advanced TVET Hub in ASEAN.

“UMPSA not only produces competent graduates but also acts as a catalyst for TVET transformation through internationalised academic programmes, which are the university’s signature programmes.

“We are also proud of the 2024 Graduate Employability (GE) rate of 99.1 per cent, one of the highest in Malaysia,” she added.

As of now, UMPSA remains the only public university (UA) that has implemented eleven dual degree programmes through collaboration with strategic partners such as Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA), now entering its 15th year.

This includes Mannheim University of Applied Sciences (HMA) in Germany, Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) and Tianjin University in China, Kazakh National Agrarian Research University (KazNARU) in Kazakhstan, and the most recent, Hanyang University Erica Campus in South Korea.

“UMPSA is committed to producing local talents skilled in technology, which is becoming increasingly important for the country to leverage economic opportunities in this field.

“These dual degree programmes are expected to open up more opportunities for research collaborations and sharing of expertise in engineering and technology to enhance graduate employability.

“UMPSA has also been recognised as the first university in Malaysia by the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) to pioneer the offshore programmes in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to expand access to TVET education in the country,” she added.

Realising UMPSA’s role as a leader in Advanced TVET, the university made history by successfully receiving Gold Level Accreditation Status from the Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC).

This international accreditation makes UMPSA the first public university (UA) and the first MTUN institution in Malaysia to receive the highest recognition in the field of TVET in the Asia Pacific region.

In expanding access to higher education in Malaysia, UMPSA is also proud to be recognised as one of four universities appointed by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) as a Quality Verification Centre (QVC) to conduct quality verification assessments for Stand-alone Micro-credentials (SAMC) from Certificate level (T-3) to Doctorate level (T-8), subject to conditions aligned with the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) standards.

UMPSA also now houses the China–Malaysia Chinese Plus Vocational Skills Regional Development Centre (Malaysia) as part of a partnership with the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) and Hebei University.

By: Mimi Rabita Abd Wahit, Centre for Corporate Communications

Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, UMPSA Press